Access to Work Programme

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to ensure that access to work support packages involving assistive technology for newly recruited employees with a visual impairment will not be delayed by issues of software compatibility with the employer's own software.

Esther McVey: Access to work assessments carried out by Access to Work external assessment partners should always include checks and confirmation with an employer of compatibility where IT solutions are being considered.
	AtW Guidance to external assessment partners states that they must address issues of compatibility with employers IT systems.
	There will be occasions where bespoke systems will require scripting to ensure accessibility by visually impaired or blind customers. This process can take some time to complete and in such cases Access to Work will always provide interim solutions such as a support worker where this is appropriate.
	All AtW partners are required to undertake continuous professional development and as part of this keep up to date with changes and availability of new IT solutions for all disabled people.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 September 2012, Official Report, column 234W, on employment schemes: young people, 
	(1)  how many youth contract placements have been started in each Scottish local authority area; and what proportion of such placements are with small employers;
	(2)  how many wage part payment incentives have been made in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) the City of Edinburgh to employers with less than 50 employees following the successful completion of eight weeks' work.

Mark Hoban: The Youth Contract went live in April 2012. It includes wage incentives to employers taking on young people attached to the Work programme and extra work experience and sector-based work academy placements.
	In most cases wage incentives are paid after a young person has been in work continuously for 26 weeks. Following the collection and quality assurance of this data, I expect the first set of official statistics on wage incentive payment data to be available from early 2013. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
	Official statistics for work experience and sector-based work academy starts (pre-employment training only) from the start of the Youth Contract in April 2012 to May 2012 for each Scottish local authority are given in the following table. At present we only have these two months of data available; starts information up to August will be available in November 2012.
	
		
			 Number 
			 Local authority area Work experience starts Sector-based academy starts 
			 Aberdeen City 10 — 
			 Aberdeenshire 10 — 
			 Angus 30 — 
			 Argyll and Bute 20 — 
			 Clackmannanshire 10 — 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 50 — 
			 Dundee City 20 — 
			 East Ayrshire 40 — 
			 East Dunbartonshire 20 — 
			 East Lothian — — 
			 East Renfrewshire 20 — 
			 Edinburgh, City of 40 20 
			 Eilean Siar — — 
			 Falkirk 40 10 
			 Fife 80 — 
			 Glasgow City 130 20 
			 Highland 50 — 
			 Inverclyde 30 — 
			 Midlothian — — 
			 Moray 10 — 
			 North Ayrshire 70 — 
			 North Lanarkshire 70 — 
			 Orkney Islands — — 
			 Perth and Kinross 10 — 
			 Renfrewshire 40 20 
			 Scottish Borders 20 — 
			 Shetland Islands — — 
			 South Ayrshire 30 — 
			 South Lanarkshire 70 10 
			 Stirling 20 — 
			 West Dunbartonshire 20 10 
			 West Lothian 60 20 
			 Unknown 10 30 
			 Total 1,030 200 
			 Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Where there are less than 10 starts in a local authority area the number is masked (—). 3. The figures reported here will be an undercount of the Scotland region total as we have masked local authority area data where there are less than 10 starts. 
		
	
	We do not routinely collect data on employers by size and neither do we require claimants to tell us which employer they have successfully found work with, therefore we do not what proportion of placements are with small employers.

Food: Bradford

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will visit Bradford to examine the work of Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank and the Citizens Advice Bureau in providing food parcels for poor families and children in the city.

Mark Hoban: At present the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), has no planned visits to Bradford. However, should an invite be received from the two organisations, they will be considered as part of the future visit programme.

Housing Benefit

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effects of raising to 35 years the age threshold of the shared accommodation rate since January 2012.

Steve Webb: The Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam university to undertake an independent review of the impact of changes to the local housing allowance system of housing benefit.
	One element of the research is to consider the impact of the changes to the shared room allowance and raising the age threshold to 35 years.
	The Department published a report of early findings on 14 June and a copy of the report has been lodged in the House Library.
	The Department of Communities and Local Government, The Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government are working in close partnership with the DWP and contributing to the costs of the review.

Housing Benefit: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many private sector tenants in each London borough have been rehoused as a result of housing benefit changes in the last year; and how many such tenants have been rehoused (a) in their own borough, (b) elsewhere in London and (c) out of London.

Steve Webb: The Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam university to undertake an independent review of the impact of changes to the local housing allowance system of housing benefit.
	Elements of the research are the impacts on homelessness and a spatial analysis of the effects of the changes that will examine movement from one local authority to another.
	The Department published a report of early findings on 14 June and a copy of the report has been lodged in the House Library.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government, the Northern Ireland Executive through the Department for Social Development, the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government are working in close partnership with the DWP and contributing to the costs of the review.

Nurseries

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many childcare places his Department provides on its estate; what the cost is of providing such places; how many such places his Department provided in 2010; what the cost was of providing such places in 2010; what plans he has for changes in the provision of such childcare places; and what the number of places will be once any such changes have been implemented.

Mark Hoban: DWP has nursery provision for three of its sites: Glasgow; Leeds; London (Westminster). DWP staff also utilise provision through a Department of Education site in Sheffield. Department of Health staffs also access the DWP facility in Leeds. Costs identified are for staff subsidies only, the cost for the estate are contained within the overall estate cost but we assume this to be de minimus for nursery provision. There are no plans formally to review the overall provision. However, the appropriateness, viability and cost of local arrangements will continue to be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
	
		
			 DWP c hild care provision 
			 Location Capacity Costs (£) (1) 
			  2010 2012 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Glasgow 49 49 Nil Nil 
			 Leeds 46 46 24,600 20,609 
			 London (Westminster) 31 31 11,100 6,563 
			 Sheffield (2)— (2)— 44,480 53,443 
			 (1 )April to March. (2 )Not known. Notes: 1. The Glasgow and London facilities are within DWP estates and are managed by DWP. 2. The Leeds facility is within the DWP/DoH estate, but is managed by DWP. 3. The Sheffield facility is within the Department for Education estate, which is accessed by DWP staff resulting in a cost to DWP.

Personal Independence Payment

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether a personal independence payment assessment centre will be sited in Bedford constituency.

Esther McVey: Details of where face-to-face consultations will be carried out are yet to be determined.
	Atos, who will be responsible for the delivery of PIP assessments in the Bedford constituency are currently in negotiation with their supply chain to secure the premises from which they will be carried out. Atos hope to have these contracts in place by the end of October.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of benefit fraud his Department investigated in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and how many such investigations were upheld.

Mark Hoban: The Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for benefit fraud investigation within the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The figures provided in the following table are the number of cases closed for each financial year (1 April to 31 March), following an investigation. We have provided the information by financial year as the number of convictions for benefit fraud offences is not available for calendar years and is available only for financial years. For consistency, all the information provided is in financial years.
	
		
			 Cases closed 
			  Number 
			 2009-10 150,365 
			 2010-11 155,559 
			 2011-12 166,073 
		
	
	Some cases initially opened for investigation by FIS might subsequently be referred to customer compliance (CC) teams for continued action at any time if it is clear that a criminal penalty would not be appropriate. CC deal with less serious cases where full criminal investigation is judged unnecessary, enabling FIS to focus on higher risk frauds. In cases dealt with by CC teams the rate of benefit will be adjusted if appropriate, the customer will be made aware of the rules and the recovery of any overpayment will be instigated. The following table details the number of cases referred to CC for each financial year requested.
	
		
			 Cases referred to customer compliance 
			  Number 
			 2009-10 148,992 
			 2010-11 155,805 
			 2011-12 198,546 
		
	
	The figures provided in the following table are the number of cases where fraud was proved and the subsequent outcome for each financial year requested.
	
		
			 Number 
			  Administrative penalties Cautions Convictions for benefit fraud offences 
			 2009-10 7,249 15,117 7,040 
			 2010-11 7,625 15,574 8,598 
			 2011-12 7,364 15,939 9,861 
		
	
	The number of cases closed may not directly relate to the number of administrative penalties, cautions and convictions in the same year and therefore the data cannot be directly compared. This is due to the length of time it can take for some cases to conclude and sentencing be passed, which may span more than one tax year.
	The information supplied by the Department has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. It is therefore possible this information may change due to operational reasons.

Unemployment: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people between the age of 16 and 64 years were economically inactive in each electoral ward in the Peterborough City Council area on 31 March (a) 2001, (b) 2005 and (c) 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people between the age of 16 and 64 years were economically inactive on 31 March (a) 2001, (b) 2005 and (c) 2012 by electoral ward in the Peterborough City Council area; and if he will make a statement. (121456)(121458)
	Estimates for the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive by electoral ward, are produced from the Census. Latest Census data available by electoral ward is for the 2001 Census, data for 2011 Census has yet to be released.
	Table 1 shows the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive resident in each electoral ward in Peterborough from the 2001 Census.
	Estimates for the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive for Peterborough parliamentary constituency are available from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Earliest data available is for the 12 month APS period January to December 2004.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of economically inactive people aged 16 to 64 resident by electoral wards in Peterborough in 2001 
			  Aged 16 to 64 
			 Barnack 346 
			 Bretton North 1,433 
			 Bretton South 473 
			 Central 2,064 
			 Dogsthorpe 1,606 
			 East 1,515 
			 Eye and Thorney 658 
			 Fletton 1,044 
			 Glinton and Wittering 715 
			 Newborough 286 
			 North 824 
			 Northborough 331 
			 Orton Longueville 1,679 
			 Orton Waterville 1,084 
			 Orton with Hampton 375 
			 Park 1,111 
			 Paston 1,282 
			 Ravensthorpe 1,246 
			 Stanground Central 1,122 
			 Stanground East 429 
			 Walton 662 
			 Werrington North 931 
			 Werrington South 857 
			 West 1,266 
			 Source: 2001 Census

Argentina

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the UK representative at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) voted against the proposed loan to Argentina from the IADB on 29 August 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The UK representative at the Inter-American Development did not support this loan. The UK registered its abstention as part of our wider constituency with Japan, Portugal, Korea, Croatia and Slovenia.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Justine Greening: The previous Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell made a ministerial visit to Nottingham in March 2011. There have been no other ministerial visits to Nottingham/Nottinghamshire.

Research

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department spent on research and development in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and how much she plans to spend in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Lynne Featherstone: Research is essential for international development in order to generate new technologies, discover new ways of tackling poverty and to provide evidence to improve the effectiveness and value for money of development programmes.
	DFID spent the following amounts on centrally commissioned research:
	(a) 2008-09: £125 million
	(b) 2009-10: £176 million
	(c) 2010-11: £202 million
	(d) 2011-12: £222 million.
	Total expenditure on research (excluding that spent by multilateral organisations) is published annually in the Statistics for International Development. This is available on the DFID website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us?how-we-measure-progress/Aid-statistics/statistics-on-International-Development-2011/ (Table 20)
	Budgets for 2013-14 and 2014-15 are still to be formally agreed. DFID's anticipated budget for centrally commissioned research is expected to be around:
	(i) 2012-13: £230 million
	(ii) 2013-14: £305 million
	(iii) 2014-15: £320 million.
	Total spending on research across DFID in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 will result from spending decisions made by different countries and policy teams and so planning figures are not available.

Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what media or public speaking training Ministers in her Department have received since May 2010.

Justine Greening: No Ministers in my Department have received media or public training since May 2010.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 3 September 2012, Official Report, column 217W, on broadband: rural areas, what recent update she has received from the European Commission regarding the request for approval of an umbrella state aid notification for broadband projects including at senior level.

Edward Vaizey: It is our understanding that the Commission is on track to issue its final decision in late October or early November 2012, which will allow projects to get under way.

Broadband: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Scottish Government on the roll-out of superfast broadband.

Edward Vaizey: Since taking up office, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), has had no discussions with the Scottish Government on the roll-out of superfast broadband.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Hugh Robertson: Ministers from the Department for Culture Media and Sport have had the pleasure of making several visits to Nottingham and Nottinghamshire since the last election. Some visits have focused on sport such as Nottingham Mapperly Sport Village, Ellis Guildford School and Sports College and Olympic roadshows, whilst others have focused on more cultural highlights such as art galleries and playhouses.

Sports: Disability

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether she plans to take steps to encourage broadcasters to televise more disabled sports in addition to the Paralympic Games.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), intends to have introductory meetings with the broadcasters soon to discuss a range of issues, including their plans to build on the legacy of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Defence Procurement

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which contracts his Department renegotiated in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012; and what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department arising from each such contract renegotiation.

Philip Dunne: h olding answer 7 September 2012
	I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 October 2012, Official Report, column 665W, to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Alison Seabeck).

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Philip Hammond: Nottinghamshire figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but figures for the East Midlands were provided on 3 September 2012, Official Report, columns 59-60W, to the right hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Jim Murphy), and are shown as follows:
	
		
			 Since May 2010 to June 2012: East Midlands 
			  Number of visits 
			 Secretary of State 2 
			 Minister for the Armed Forces 3 
			 Minister for International Security Strategy 4 
			 Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology 1 
			 Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans 4 
			 Under-Secretary of State 1

Trident

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Minister in his Department is responsible for the Trident Alternatives Review due to report in the autumn.

Philip Hammond: holding answer 10 September 2012
	I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the hon. Member for North Devon (Sir Nick Harvey) on 26 March 2012, Official Report, column 957W, in which he stated that the Trident Alternatives Review is expected to report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at the end of the year.
	The Trident Alternatives Review continues to be led by the Cabinet Office, aims to assist the Liberal Democrats in assessing the case for any alternative systems that could maintain a credible nuclear deterrent at lower cost. Ministerial oversight will be provided by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

Trident

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Minister in his Department is responsible for the review of the future of the UK nuclear deterrent.

Philip Hammond: There is no review being conducted on the future of the UK nuclear deterrent. The Government's policy remains as I set out on 18 June 2012, Official Report, column 611, that the Vanguard class submarines will be replaced at the end of their lives in the late 2020s/early 2030s by a successor submarine carrying the Trident missile, subject to main gate investment approval for the project in 2016.
	The Trident Alternatives Review being led by the Cabinet Office, aims to assist the Liberal Democrats in assessing the case for any alternative systems that could maintain a credible nuclear deterrent at lower cost. Ministerial oversight will be provided by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

World War II: Anniversaries

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to commemorate in 2014 the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the River Plate; and if he will consider funding a suitable memorial.

Mark Francois: It is Government policy not to fund memorials but a matter for the public and veterans associations to manage as they see fit. The Government is considering a number of commemorative events for both world war one and world war two.
	At present nothing specific is being planned for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Plate, although I would expect the event to be marked in someway, and this matter has already been discussed with the Royal Naval museum at Portsmouth.

Agriculture: Pay

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agricultural workers in each parliamentary constituency are covered by the provisions of the Agricultural Wages Board.

David Heath: The number of paid agricultural workers in each parliamentary constituency is shown in the following table. This includes salaried managers, regular workers, casual and gang workers.
	The numbers are based on 2010 data for the new parliamentary constituency boundaries and for commercial holdings with significant levels of farming activity. These significant levels are classified as any holding with more than 5 hectares of agricultural land, 1 hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
	
		
			 Parliamentary constituency Paid 
			 Aldershot * 
			 Aldridge-Brownhills 36 
			 Altrincham and Sale West 46 
			 Amber Valley 69 
			 Arundel and South Downs 1,300 
			 Ashfield 63 
			 Ashford 749 
			 Ashton-under-Lyne * 
			 Aylesbury 97 
			 Banbury 297 
			 Barnsley Central 12 
			 Barnsley East 54 
			 Barrow and Furness 108 
			 Basildon and Billericay 38 
			 Basingstoke 9 
			 Bassetlaw 425 
			 Bath * 
			 Batley and Spen 64 
			 Battersea * 
			 Beaconsfield 242 
			 Beckenham * 
			 Bedford 6 
			 Berwick-upon-Tweed 902 
			 Beverley and Holderness 1,040 
			 Bexhill and Battle 455 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford 0 
			 Birkenhead * 
			 Birmingham, Edgbaston * 
			 Birmingham, Erdington * 
			 Birmingham, Ladywood 0 
			 Birmingham, Northfield * 
			 Birmingham, Yardley 0 
			 Bishop Auckland 308 
			 Blackburn 14 
			 Blackpool North and Cleveleys 0 
			 Blackpool South * 
			 Blaydon 47 
			 Blyth Valley 37 
			 Bognor Regis and Littlehampton 237 
			 Bolsover 134 
			 Bolton North East 21 
		
	
	
		
			 Bolton South East * 
			 Bolton West 36 
			 Boston and Skegness 1,829 
			 Bosworth 241 
			 Bournemouth East 16 
			 Bournemouth West * 
			 Bracknell 625 
			 Bradford East * 
			 Bradford South 26 
			 Bradford West 19 
			 Braintree 330 
			 Brent North * 
			 Brentford and Isleworth * 
			 Brentwood and Ongar 348 
			 Bridgwater and West Somerset 906 
			 Brigg and Goole 464 
			 Brighton, Kemptown 17 
			 Brighton, Pavilion * 
			 Bristol East 0 
			 Bristol North West * 
			 Bristol South * 
			 Bristol West * 
			 Broadland 1,047 
			 Bromley and Chislehurst 0 
			 Bromsgrove 133 
			 Broxbourne 63 
			 Broxtowe 25 
			 Buckingham 627 
			 Burnley 58 
			 Burton 242 
			 Bury North 20 
			 Bury South 26 
			 Bury St Edmunds 618 
			 Calder Valley 126 
			 Camborne and Redruth 276 
			 Cambridge * 
			 Cannock Chase 16 
			 Canterbury 1,424 
			 Carlisle 122 
			 Carshalton and Wallington * 
			 Castle Point 20 
			 Central Devon 1,080 
			 Central Suffolk and North Ipswich 869 
			 Charnwood 308 
			 Chatham and Aylesford 18 
			 Cheadle 63 
			 Chelmsford 54 
			 Chelsea and Fulham * 
			 Cheltenham 14 
			 Chesham and Amersham 129 
			 Chesterfield * 
			 Chichester 1,536 
			 Chingford and Woodford Green 0 
			 Chippenham 149 
			 Chipping Barnet * 
			 Chorley 236 
			 Christchurch 85 
			 Cities of London and Westminster * 
			 City of Chester 169 
			 City of Durham 97 
			 Clacton 111 
		
	
	
		
			 Cleethorpes 249 
			 Colchester * 
			 Colne Valley 109 
			 Congleton 267 
			 Copeland 510 
			 Corby 370 
			 Coventry North East * 
			 Coventry North West 28 
			 Coventry South 0 
			 Crawley * 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 136 
			 Croydon Central 0 
			 Croydon South * 
			 Dagenham and Rainham * 
			 Darlington * 
			 Dartford 191 
			 Daventry 439 
			 Denton and Reddish * 
			 Derby North * 
			 Derby South * 
			 Derbyshire Dales 680 
			 Devizes 718 
			 Dewsbury 82 
			 Don Valley 110 
			 Doncaster Central 19 
			 Doncaster North 141 
			 Dover 161 
			 Dudley North * 
			 Dudley South * 
			 Ealing North * 
			 Easington 55 
			 East Devon 344 
			 East Ham 0 
			 East Hampshire 478 
			 East Surrey 218 
			 East Worthing and Shoreham 27 
			 East Yorkshire 915 
			 Eastbourne 7 
			 Eastleigh 44 
			 Eddisbury 923 
			 Edmonton * 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 130 
			 Elmet and Rothwell 300 
			 Eltham * 
			 Enfield North 52 
			 Enfield, Southgate * 
			 Epping Forest 338 
			 Epsom and Ewell 16 
			 Erewash 22 
			 Esher and Walton 209 
			 Exeter * 
			 Fareham 339 
			 Faversham and Mid Kent 1,749 
			 Feltham and Heston * 
			 Filton and Bradley Stoke 22 
			 Finchley and Golders Green 0 
			 Folkestone and Hythe 336 
			 Forest of Dean 602 
			 Fylde 239 
			 Gainsborough 920 
			 Garston and Halewood 50 
			 Gateshead 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Gedling * 
			 Gillingham and Rainham * 
			 Gloucester * 
			 Gosport * 
			 Grantham and Stamford 418 
			 Gravesham 417 
			 Great Yarmouth 441 
			 Greenwich and Woolwich 0 
			 Guildford 158 
			 Hackney South and Shoreditch 0 
			 Halesowen and Rowley Regis * 
			 Halifax 16 
			 Haltemprice and Howden 727 
			 Halton * 
			 Harborough 206 
			 Harlow 588 
			 Harrogate and Knaresborough 124 
			 Harrow East 0 
			 Harrow West * 
			 Hartlepool 41 
			 Harwich and North Essex 735 
			 Hastings and Rye 185 
			 Havant 49 
			 Hayes and Harlington * 
			 Hazel Grove 22 
			 Hemel Hempstead 55 
			 Hemsworth 66 
			 Hendon * 
			 Henley 427 
			 Hereford and South Herefordshire 1,200 
			 Hertford and Stortford 99 
			 Hertsmere 108 
			 Hexham 629 
			 Heywood and Middleton 21 
			 High Peak 204 
			 Hitchin and Harpenden 159 
			 Hornchurch and Upminster 11 
			 Horsham 310 
			 Houghton and Sunderland South 13 
			 Hove * 
			 Huddersfield 32 
			 Huntingdon 156 
			 Hyndburn 47 
			 Ilford North * 
			 Ipswich 0 
			 Isle of Wight 1,009 
			 Islington South and Finsbury * 
			 Jarrow 16 
			 Keighley 59 
			 Kenilworth and Southam 516 
			 Kensington 0 
			 Kettering 127 
			 Kingston and Surbiton * 
			 Kingston upon Hull East * 
			 Kingston upon Hull North * 
			 Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle 0 
			 Kingswood 30 
			 Knowsley 18 
			 Lancaster and Fleetwood 364 
			 Leeds Central * 
		
	
	
		
			 Leeds East 30 
			 Leeds North East * 
			 Leeds North West 62 
			 Leeds West * 
			 Leicester East 0 
			 Leicester South * 
			 Leicester West * 
			 Leigh 35 
			 Lewes 382 
			 Lichfield 422 
			 Lincoln 37 
			 Liverpool, Walton * 
			 Liverpool, Wavertree * 
			 Liverpool, West Derby * 
			 Loughborough 48 
			 Louth and Horncastle 979 
			 Ludlow 1,192 
			 Luton North 0 
			 Luton South 21 
			 Macclesfield 211 
			 Maidenhead 127 
			 Maidstone and The Weald 973 
			 Makerfield 25 
			 Maldon 400 
			 Manchester Central * 
			 Mansfield 50 
			 Meon Valley 634 
			 Meriden 68 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 238 
			 Mid Derbyshire 54 
			 Mid Dorset and North Poole 86 
			 Mid Norfolk 1,001 
			 Mid Sussex 144 
			 Mid Worcestershire 979 
			 Middlesbrough * 
			 Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 120 
			 Milton Keynes North 117 
			 Milton Keynes South * 
			 Mitcham and Morden 0 
			 Mole Valley 254 
			 Morecambe and Lunesdale 162 
			 Morley and Outwood 101 
			 New Forest East 519 
			 New Forest West 462 
			 Newark 577 
			 Newbury 397 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne East * 
			 Newcastle-under-Lyme 24 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Central 53 
			 Newton Abbot 154 
			 Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford 35 
			 North Cornwall 809 
			 North Devon 682 
			 North Dorset 1,011 
			 North Durham 35 
			 North East Bedfordshire 461 
			 North East Cambridgeshire 1,377 
			 North East Derbyshire 126 
			 North East Hampshire 223 
			 North East Hertfordshire 370 
			 North East Somerset 245 
		
	
	
		
			 North Herefordshire 3,839 
			 North Norfolk 718 
			 North Shropshire 921 
			 North Somerset 216 
			 North Swindon 46 
			 North Thanet 141 
			 North Tyneside 11 
			 North Warwickshire 278 
			 North West Cambridgeshire 417 
			 North West Durham 232 
			 North West Hampshire 442 
			 North West Leicestershire 239 
			 North West Norfolk 795 
			 North Wiltshire 542 
			 Northampton North * 
			 Northampton South * 
			 Norwich North * 
			 Norwich South * 
			 Nottingham North * 
			 Nottingham South 0 
			 Nuneaton 39 
			 Old Bexley and Sidcup * 
			 Oldham East and Saddleworth 21 
			 Oldham West and Royton * 
			 Orpington 85 
			 Oxford East * 
			 Oxford West and Abingdon 52 
			 Pendle 75 
			 Penistone and Stocksbridge 162 
			 Penrith and The Border 1,122 
			 Peterborough 113 
			 Plymouth, Moor View 0 
			 Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport * 
			 Poole * 
			 Poplar and Limehouse * 
			 Portsmouth South 0 
			 Preston 0 
			 Pudsey 49 
			 Putney 0 
			 Rayleigh and Wickford 173 
			 Reading East * 
			 Reading West 10 
			 Redcar * 
			 Redditch 92 
			 Reigate 101 
			 Ribble Valley 423 
			 Richmond (Yorks) 1,287 
			 Richmond Park * 
			 Rochdale 12 
			 Rochester and Strood 312 
			 Rochford and Southend East 53 
			 Romford * 
			 Romsey and Southampton North 463 
			 Rossendale and Darwen 90 
			 Rother Valley 94 
			 Rotherham 13 
			 Rugby 215 
			 Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner 8 
			 Runnymede and Weybridge 63 
			 Rushcliffe 332 
			 Rutland and Melton 836 
		
	
	
		
			 Saffron Walden 496 
			 Salford and Eccles * 
			 Salisbury 361 
			 Scarborough and Whitby 352 
			 Scunthorpe 130 
			 Sedgefield 175 
			 Sefton Central 76 
			 Selby and Ainsty 1,064 
			 Sevenoaks 220 
			 Sheffield Central * 
			 Sheffield South East * 
			 Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough 0 
			 Sheffield, Hallam 85 
			 Sheffield, Heeley * 
			 Sherwood 580 
			 Shipley 65 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 606 
			 Sittingbourne and Sheppey 742 
			 Skipton and Ripon 1,058 
			 Sleaford and North Hykeham 980 
			 Slough * 
			 Solihull * 
			 Somerton and Frome 889 
			 South Basildon and East Thurrock 91 
			 South Cambridgeshire 535 
			 South Derbyshire 242 
			 South Dorset 228 
			 South East Cambridgeshire 892 
			 South East Cornwall 662 
			 South Holland and The Deepings 1,981 
			 South Leicestershire 287 
			 South Norfolk 801 
			 South Northamptonshire 419 
			 South Ribble 1,228 
			 South Shields * 
			 South Staffordshire 355 
			 South Suffolk 591 
			 South Swindon 71 
			 South Thanet 560 
			 South West Bedfordshire 52 
			 South West Devon 192 
			 South West Hertfordshire 124 
			 South West Norfolk 2,372 
			 South West Surrey 470 
			 South West Wiltshire 521 
			 Southampton, Test 0 
			 Southend West * 
			 Southport * 
			 Spelthorne 22 
			 St Albans 102 
			 St Austell and Newquay 253 
			 St Helens North 168 
			 St Helens South and Whiston 20 
			 St Ives 803 
			 Stafford 493 
			 Staffordshire Moorlands 398 
			 Stalybridge and Hyde 22 
			 Stevenage 13 
			 Stockport * 
			 Stockton North 34 
		
	
	
		
			 Stockton South 26 
			 Stoke-on-Trent Central * 
			 Stoke-on-Trent North * 
			 Stoke-on-Trent South * 
			 Stone 1,255 
			 Stourbridge * 
			 Stratford-on-Avon 1,551 
			 Stretford and Urmston 20 
			 Stroud 385 
			 Suffolk Coastal 918 
			 Sunderland Central * 
			 Surrey Heath 87 
			 Sutton and Cheam * 
			 Sutton Coldfield 12 
			 Tamworth 264 
			 Tatton 527 
			 Taunton Deane 660 
			 Telford * 
			 Tewkesbury 278 
			 The Cotswolds 903 
			 The Wrekin 703 
			 Thirsk and Malton 1,513 
			 Thornbury and Yate 379 
			 Thurrock * 
			 Tiverton and Honiton 859 
			 Tonbridge and Mailing 950 
			 Torbay * 
			 Torridge and West Devon 1,167 
			 Totnes 433 
			 Truro and Falmouth 372 
			 Tunbridge Wells 323 
			 Twickenham 0 
			 Tynemouth * 
			 Uxbridge and South Ruislip * 
			 Wakefield 42 
			 Wallasey * 
			 Walsall North 0 
			 Walsall South 8 
			 Wansbeck 55 
			 Wantage 397 
			 Warrington North 102 
			 Warrington South 46 
			 Warwick and Leamington 51 
			 Washington and Sunderland West 23 
			 Watford * 
			 Waveney 276 
			 Wealden 633 
			 Weaver Vale 171 
			 Wellingborough 106 
			 Wells 548 
			 Welwyn Hatfield 66 
			 Wentworth and Dearne 41 
			 West Bromwich East * 
			 West Bromwich West * 
			 West Dorset 933 
			 West Lancashire 515 
			 West Suffolk 906 
			 West Worcestershire 1,073 
			 Westmorland and Lonsdale 433 
			 Weston-Super-Mare 131 
			 Wigan 33 
		
	
	
		
			 Winchester 307 
			 Windsor 54 
			 Wirral South 33 
			 Wirral West 42 
			 Witham 541 
			 Witney 450 
			 Woking 39 
			 Wokingham 168 
			 Wolverhampton North East 0 
			 Wolverhampton South West * 
			 Worcester 0 
			 Workington 347 
			 Worsley and Eccles South 50 
			 Worthing West 20 
			 Wycombe 74 
			 Wyre and Preston North 415 
			 Wyre Forest 148 
			 Wythenshawe and Sale East * 
			 Yeovil 463 
			 York Central * 
			 York Outer 185 
			   
			 England total 122,692 
			 Note: Where figures relate to less than five holdings data is suppressed and replaced with an asterisk (*) to avoid disclosure of information about individual holdings. If only one item contributing to a total in a row or column has been suppressed then secondary suppression is required to preserve confidentiality of the initially suppressed item. Secondary suppression is applied to the item which relates to the second smallest number of holdings. Source: DEFRA Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture—June 2010

Bisphenol A

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on cross-departmental discussions assessing the cancer risk of environmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals such as Bisphenol A.

David Heath: There is an active network of officials across UK Government who keep each other appraised of developments in the regulation of Bisphenol-A (BPA) specifically and endocrine disruption more generally. This group is also engaged at EU level.
	It is well established that BPA can disrupt the endocrine (hormone) system, but only extremely weakly. A recent, well designed study found no adverse effects in rats exposed to levels 4,000 times higher than the maximum exposure of human adults in the general population.
	BPA has been found .not to produce significant carcinogenic responses in rats and mice. Further reassurance arises from BPA's tack of mutagenicity in relevant animal studies; substances that otherwise produce positive results in such tests are generally viewed as a carcinogenic threat to humans.
	In 2006, the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) assessed the health impact of BPA and established a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI), which is the amount that can be eaten every day, over a whole lifetime, without causing appreciable harm. The TDI is well above general levels of human consumption. A further Opinion by EFSA on BPA was published on 30 September 2010 and took into account more recent studies on possible BPA enhancement of breast cancer, but concluded that the existing TDI did not require adjustment.
	In the light of the EFSA assessment, we do not propose to limit further the use of BPA in non-food applications beyond current levels, which have been set following already rigorous risk assessment.
	BPA is registered under the EU REACH (registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals) regulation. According to REACH provisions, the German competent authority is already evaluating its registration with a view to deciding whether any more information or regulatory action is needed. We should know more about the outcome of this process early next year. While there is currently no reason to believe that robust evidence will arise requiring further controls on BPA, we remain alert to any evidence derived from this or other sources.

Ducks: Animal Welfare

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to improve the welfare of farmed ducks.

David Heath: The Government is committed to improved standards of welfare of all livestock. The welfare of ducks is provided for in the general provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. DEFRA also has a duck welfare code which keepers are required by law to have access to and be familiar with, which encourages high standards of husbandry.
	DEFRA completed a three-year research project in 2007 to assess whether farmed ducks needed bathing water and if so, how it should be provided. The findings of this research were built on, with the RSPCA, academics and the duck industry, to look at how water could be provided to ducks in a commercial setting, whilst being mindful of the risk to biosecurity. DEFRA took an active part in the accompanying RSPCA 'Higher Duck Welfare Programme' steering group. As a result of this collaborative approach, duck welfare standards have been raised as both the RSPCA's Freedom Foods scheme and the industry's own Duck Assurance Scheme have ensured that their standards reflect the latest research.
	DEFRA welcomes the availability of duck meat products reared to a range of standards which meet the law and allows consumers to make their own choice in purchasing.

Medical Equipment: Waste Disposal

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the classification for the purpose of waste disposal of colostomy and urostomy bags; whether such items can be disposed of as waste; and what steps he is taking to ensure local authorities comply with his policy on disposal of such items.

Richard Benyon: The exact classification of colostomy and urostomy bags depends on their nature. Under the controlled waste (England and Wales) regulations 2012, they may fall within the definition of ‘clinical waste', ‘offensive waste', or ‘household waste' under section 75(5) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
	In a domestic situation, colostomy and urostomy bags would normally be classified as ‘offensive' waste from health care related activities, rather than 'clinical waste'.
	A domestic household can discard small quantities of offensive waste in their domestic refuse. It is recommended practice, to aid subsequent management and disposal, that larger quantities are segregated for collection. This should be arranged with the local authority. The same principle would apply for the patient's place of work.
	These bags would only be considered ‘clinical waste' where a health care worker had identified a specific risk from that individual patient, such as a risk of infection. ‘Clinical waste' is subject to additional controls that typically involve more stringent packaging, transportation and documentary tracking requirements followed by either incineration or disinfection (e.g. by autoclave).
	We believe it is best for local authorities, working with their residents, to decide how to run local waste services. Any dissatisfaction with local authority services should be taken up with that authority. Failure by a local authority to fulfil its statutory duties may be taken up with the local government ombudsman.

Natural Resources

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the proposals in the Gaborone Declaration on valuing natural capital.

Richard Benyon: The Gaborone Declaration sets out 10 African countries' commitment to respond to the issues of environmental destruction and climate change. It places emphasis on natural capital accounting as a complement to GDP and corporate performance statistics.
	The independent Natural Capital Committee has been established to provide advice on the state of English natural capital and in particular to advise the Government on: (i), when, where and how natural assets are being used unsustainably; (ii), how it should prioritise action to protect and improve natural capital, so that public and private activity is focused where it will have greatest impact on improving wellbeing in our society; and (iii), research priorities to improve future advice and decisions on protecting and enhancing natural capital.
	The Government has committed to put natural capital at the heart of government accounting and the Office for National Statistics has recently published a consultation, ‘Accounting for the value of nature in the UK', to help achieve this. The Natural Capital Committee is working with the Office for National Statistics in developing methodologies for accounting for natural capital.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the Royal Association of Dairy Farmers' request that due to summer rainfall and the effect on slurry storage there should be a national derogation for the upcoming nitrate vulnerable zone closed spreading periods.

David Heath: Rainfall this summer has been much greater than normal, and the five months from April to August were the wettest in England and Wales since records began in 1910. This has made conditions for spreading slurry difficult on many farms. In addition, many animals have been kept indoors for significantly longer than usual because of the poor ground conditions, resulting in further slurry accumulation.
	The closed period rules which apply in nitrate vulnerable zones are set out in the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008, as amended. We do not consider that a national derogation from the closed period rules would be appropriate.
	However, the Government has asked the Environment Agency to take particular account of certain matters when deciding whether enforcement action under those regulations would be appropriate during the first two weeks of the closed period as it applies to heavier land. (The closed period is 1-15 October for tillage land and 15-31 October for grassland; "heavier land" is land which is not sandy or shallow as defined in the regulations). In brief, those matters are the impact of the exceptional weather on individual farms and, in light of that, whether farmers have complied with the relevant rules and followed good practice. We have also asked the Environment Agency to take account of these matters when deciding what action should be taken when a breach of the regulations concerning the closed period is identified. The full policy statement is available on the DEFRA website.
	The Environment Agency seeks to enforce the regulations in all cases in a proportionate way, taking into account all the circumstances of each case. Where the impact of the exceptional weather has been demonstrably detrimental to the individual farmer's ability to spread slurry and the factors set out in the statement apply, the Environment Agency will be in a better position to give credit to the farmer when it comes to deciding whether, in all the circumstances, enforcement action is justified and appropriate.
	The Government will keep this matter under review.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Richard Benyon: The following visits to the (a) City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010:
	
		
			 Minister Visited Date of visit Purpose of visit 
			 Owen Paterson City of Nottingham 13 September 2012 Flood defence visit 
			 Lord Taylor City of Nottingham 2 March 2012 Fact-finding visit ‘Love Where You Live' campaign

Pollution: EU Law

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the effect on (a) life expectancy and (b) premature deaths avoided of action taken to implement the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive and associated amendments (i) in total and (ii) in each region since it came into force; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The 2008 Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) consolidated the 1996 Air Quality Framework Directive and three, subsequent 'daughter' directives into a single directive. It introduced several new provisions, including the possibility of additional time to meet certain limit values. The fourth 'daughter' directive, adopted in 2004, is expected to be consolidated at a later date. Many of the health based standards set out in the 2008 directive were adopted over 10 years ago. Detailed estimates are not available of the effects of the legislation on life expectancy and premature deaths avoided since its adoption.
	An assessment made in 2010, using 2008 data, estimated the average reduction in life expectancy due to exposure to fine particulate matter to be six months. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) estimated that this burden can also be expressed as being equivalent to 29,000 deaths per year, assuming particulate matter concentrations do not change. However, COMEAP considers it very unlikely that this represents the number of individuals affected or that air pollution affects everyone equally. Instead it speculates that air pollution, acting together with other factors, may have made some smaller contribution to all cardiovascular deaths in the UK; that is, the earlier deaths of up to 200,000 people per year.
	The mortality effect associated with particulate air pollution is now an indicator in the Government's Public Health Outcomes Framework for England. COMEAP recently published a statement recommending simplified methods for estimating the mortality effects of particulate air pollution on a local scale. These estimates are expected to be useful in future in communicating the importance of the effects of air pollution on public health.

Seas and Oceans: Pollution

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the marine and coastal environment of plastics that have been dumped at sea.

Richard Benyon: Charting Progress 2 (CP2), the 2010 comprehensive report on the state of UK seas, summarises the information available on the sources and effects of litter, including plastics. Around 15% of UK beach litter, including lost fishing gear and litter from containers lost at sea, is thought to originate at sea from fishing and shipping. The effects of plastic litter can include harm to wildlife from entanglement or ingestion of plastics.
	Since 2010, DEFRA and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS), the Government's foremost source of evidence on. the marine environment, have continued work to improve understanding of marine litter. This includes a current research project that has updated some information in CP2 and aims to develop a standardised UK monitoring programme. CEFAS is also contributing to MARLISCO (Marine Litter in Europe Seas: Social Awareness and Co-responsibility), an EU research programme on societal changes on litter and it will be taking part in an EU project on effects and distributions of micro plastics.

Sustainable Development

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to review the Government's policies to ensure such policies are consistent with the Government's vision for sustainable development.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), and the Minister for Government Policy, the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr Letwin), have lead responsibility for the commitment to mainstream sustainable development in Government. Both are members of the Home and Economic Affairs Committees that deal with domestic policy.
	Departments' business plans include commitments relating to sustainable development. Each Department is responsible for deciding how it will implement its sustainable development commitments. Progress is monitored through a regular review process led by the Minister of State for Government Policy and supported by DEFRA.

Veterinary Medicine

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the veterinary surgeons that work for the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency were trained (a) in the UK and (b) abroad.

David Heath: Of the 302 veterinary surgeons that work for the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency:
	(a) 230 studied in the UK, and;
	(b) 72 studied abroad.
	The data was obtained on 11 October 2012 from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons register, which holds the details about the background and training of individual vets.

Veterinary Medicine: Antibiotics

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on levels of use of (a) fluoroquinolones and (b) 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins by vets;
	(2)  what guidance his Department provides to vets on the desirability of limiting the use of (a) fluoroquinolones and (b) 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins.

David Heath: For the past 14 years, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has collected, collated and published figures on UK sales volumes of active antimicrobial ingredients in authorised veterinary medicinal products.
	There is no central record of the use of antimicrobials in animals in the UK. However, it is reasonable to assume that there is a direct relationship between the reported quantities of products sold and those used in the UK in the species indicated:
	The report published for 2010 shows that there were 1.4 tonnes of 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins sold (0.3% of the total 447 of antimicrobials tonnes sold) and 2.2 tonnes of fluoroquinolones sold (0.5% of the total 447 tonnes of antimicrobials sold).
	These reports can be found at:
	http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/fsf/antimicrobial_pubs.aspx
	The Government has long promoted the responsible use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine and has produced publications such as a Code of Practice on the Responsible Use of Medicines on the Farm and a leaflet on antimicrobials, available on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's website:
	http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/vet/antimicrobial_pubs.aspx
	The Government works closely with the farming industry, the veterinary profession and the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance. RUMA has produced, various sector specific publications and guidance all of which can be found on the RUMA website. RUMA's most recent publication is a poster on responsible use of antibiotics available at:
	http://www.ruma.org.uk/images/EPRUMA%20poster.JPG
	In addition, the British Veterinary Association has produced a poster on the responsible use of antimicrobials for veterinary practices, available at:
	http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/BVA_Antimicrobials_Poster.PDF

Former Ministers: Pay

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the cost to the public purse is of resettlement payments made to former Ministers of each Department who have left the Government since 4 September 2012; and which former Ministers who left the Government after 4 September 2012 have been recommended to receive an honour.

Francis Maude: As was the case under previous governments, the rules on severance payments are set out in the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. Under this legislation, Ministers leaving office are entitled to receive three months' worth of severance pay which is based on their annual ministerial salary.
	The Prime Minister will recommend to the Queen that my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (Sir George Young) be appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour. The Prime Minister has also recommended to The Queen that knighthoods be conferred upon the following:
	James Paice MP
	Edward Garnier QC MP
	Nick Harvey MP
	Gerald Howarth MP.

Government Departments: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 118W, on Government departments: procurement, which government departments are yet to eliminate the use of pre-qualification questionnaires for procurements below £100,000; and when they expect to do so.

Chloe Smith: The use of pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQs) for procurements below £100,000 has been eliminated in all central Government Departments except the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence; these Departments have additional security requirements to consider.
	The Minister for the Cabinet Office has granted exemptions to the FCO and the MOD to use PQQs in below threshold procurement where it is necessary to withhold information from suppliers who do not meet minimum selection criteria due to the performance of the contract being secret, accompanied by special security measures, and/or when the protection of personnel or the special interests of the United Kingdom warrant it. The exemption also applies, for defence goods, works or services, where the impact of military-technical or safety risks is disproportionately high compared to the value of the requirement.
	For procurements where PQQs are still required we issued a simplified, standardised pre-qualification questionnaire in 2010. This was updated in February 2012 to reflect changes as a result of the Bribery Act. It is available for any public body to use.
	If suppliers come across overly bureaucratic PQQs they can report them to our 'Mystery Shopper' service.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people over the age of 25 claiming jobseeker's allowance have never been in employment of any kind.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people aged over the age of 25 years claiming jobseeker's allowance have never been in employment of any kind. (121986).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles Jobseeker's Allowance data from the Jobcentre Plus Administrative system. Unfortunately, data on whether an individual has ever been in employment is not collected by this system.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and JSA count are available on the Nomis website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Olympic Games 2012: Voluntary Work

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to offer London 2012 Olympics volunteers further opportunities to get involved in their local communities and national events.

Nick Hurd: The Government is keen to use the momentum created by the Olympic and Paralympic Games to encourage even more people to continue volunteering. We are in discussion with LOCOG about how to best keep the London 2012 volunteers engaged. We are backing frontline organisations to support existing and new volunteering opportunities, as well as investing in infrastructure and reducing bureaucracy to better connect volunteers to local and national opportunities.

Public Sector: Procurement

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to reduce or remove barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises when they formulate tender processes, contract frameworks or procurement strategies for procurement related to public sector organisations.

Francis Maude: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friends, the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) and the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous), on 7 September 2012, Official Report, column 505W.

Azerbaijan

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Azerbaijan on President Aliyev's decision to pardon convicted murderer Ramil Safarov.

David Lidington: The UK Government has not held any discussions with the Azerbaijani authorities regarding the pardon of Ramil Safarov. However, as stated in my previous answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 467W, we have supported EU and Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) statements on the case. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs raised the issue with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister when they visited Baku on 3 September. Our main concern is to ensure that tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not increased as a result of this incident, and to encourage both sides to exercise restraint to prevent any escalation of the situation.

Haiti

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what technical assistance his Department is offering to the President and government of Haiti in the field of building capacity for good government and democratic accountability.

Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not currently offering any direct technical assistance to the President and Government of Haiti in the field of building capacity for good government and democratic accountability. However, the UK is a significant contributor to the EU and World Bank programmes in Haiti, both of which address issues of governance and accountability. The UK. is also a major financial contributor to MINUSTAH, the UN stabilisation mission, which also supports governance and democratic accountability in Haiti.

Maldives

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to visit the Maldives in an official capacity.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), does not have any current plans to visit Maldives in an official capacity.

Middle East

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the treatment of Christians in the middle east.

Alistair Burt: Freedom of religion in the middle east is an issue raised frequently by parliamentarians and our contacts in the region.
	In the last six months alone the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also responded to over two hundred letters from members of the public and Members of Parliament regarding religious freedom in the Arab world, specifically the treatment of Christians.
	On 10 July, I addressed a reception organised by Open Doors, a Christian non- governmental organisation (NGO) on religious freedom in the Arab world and on 19 September I met a representative of another NGO to discuss the Government's policy on religious freedom. In June, a Christian NGO also contacted us regarding the FCO regarding the treatment of a group of Ethiopian Christians in Saudi Arabia.

Nagorno-Karabakh

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support a mediated solution between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Minsk Group.

David Lidington: The British Government supports the work of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group peace process and regularly encourages the Azerbaijani and Armenian Governments to accelerate efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement. I personally discussed this with the Armenian President and Foreign Minister while in Yerevan on 18 September and with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister in April this year. The Prime Minister also raised it with the Azerbaijani President in August.
	As well as high level support, we continue to sponsor and organise events and projects to bring together different aspects of Armenian and Azerbaijani civil society, who currently have no contacts at all, to meet and work on joint projects to aid reconciliation and build bridges across the conflict divide. Given the difficulties people from the two countries have to meet and engage, we hope that our projects have made and will continue to make a difference in fostering positive community relations and countering negative stereotypes. We believe these civil society contacts can contribute to laying the foundations on which political reconciliation could take place and a sustainable resolution to the conflict found.

Pakistan

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to address adverse treatment of Christians in Pakistan.

Alistair Burt: The Government raises the issue of the persecution of religious minorities on a regular basis with the authorities in Pakistan. Following the arrest of Rimsha Masih. A Christian girl arrested under the blasphemy laws, I spoke to Dr. Paul Bhatti, the Pakistani Minister for Interfaith Harmony, to lodge our concerns about the treatment of Christians and religious minorities in Pakistan, and to discuss recent shocking examples of religious persecution. I am pleased that Rimsha has now been released on bail.
	This month Baroness Warsi also raised our concerns about the treatment of religious minorities with the Chief Minister of Punjab during his visit to London. In February Baroness Warsi raised the issue of religious persecution and the blasphemy laws with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan during her visit to London.

Rwanda

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on the restoration of international aid to Rwanda.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has discussed Rwanda with the recently appointed Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening). Officials from the two Departments work closely together, both in the UK and overseas on this important issue. We remain very concerned by the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and continue to monitor it closely.

Sri Lanka

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Sri Lankan government's National Plan of Action to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission; and what recent representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka on ensuring accountability for human rights violations and reforms to promote reconciliation.

Alistair Burt: We continue to have concerns about human rights in Sri Lanka including political violence and intimidation of the media. We have urged the Sri Lanka Government to make progress in implementing the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution. Sri Lanka's July 2012 Action Plan on implementing the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations fulfils one of the Council's requests. We look to Sri Lanka to implement the Action Plan and to address other elements of the resolution including alleged violations of international law.
	We look forward to actively contributing to Sri Lanka's Universal Periodic Review at the HRC in November. In that context, the UK made clear in a statement on 17 September 2012 to the HRC that we continued to monitor developments in Sri Lanka and looked forward to a visit to the country by the high commissioner for human rights.
	The Prime Minister emphasised the need for accountability and reconciliation most recently in a short discussion with President Rajapaksa at the Commonwealth Secretary General's lunch on 6 June 2012. The Foreign Secretary made the same points when he met the Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs on 6 June.

Air Passenger Duty

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what his policy is on air passenger duty; whether he plans to change that policy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much has been paid in air passenger duty on UK domestic flights from Northern Ireland in each of the last four years.

Sajid Javid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 September 2012, Official Report, column 343W.
	Revenue figures for air passenger duty (APD) are collected for the UK as a whole and are not broken down by devolved region. Information on APD revenues from domestic flights is not available, because HM Revenue and Customs does not collect information on the contribution to APD revenues made from flights to specific countries. APD revenues and passenger numbers are available online at:
	https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDuty Bulletins.aspx

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the oral answer by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for Lincoln of 11 September 2012, Official Report, column 125, on beer duty, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health, (b) Scotland and (c) the Home Department regarding the setting of a minimum unit price for alcohol;
	(2)  what discussions have taken place between his Department and the Scottish Government regarding minimum unit pricing of alcohol.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 17 September 2012
	Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. The cross-Government Alcohol Strategy was published in March 2012. This included a commitment to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol alongside other key measures to reduce the harms caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Government Departments continue to engage on these issues in advance of a Government consultation on the alcohol strategy in the autumn. The Government continues to engage with the Scottish Government on the issue of minimum unit pricing.

Art Works

Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what works of art each of the Ministers in his Department have on display in their offices; and how much they are valued at.

Sajid Javid: The works of art in the Ministers offices are on loan from the Government Art Collection. Information about the works on loan to HM Treasury has been deposited in the Library of the House. Details of the artwork in each ministerial office are not provided publicly for security reasons.
	It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the value of the works as they do not have a current market valuation.

Business: Government Assistance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2012, Official Report, column 672W, on business: government assistance, what funds are being allocated under the Business Finance Partnership by stage of allocation;
	(2)  what proportion of the funding allocated under the Business Finance Partnership has been drawn down by end recipients.

Greg Clark: holding answer 17 September 2012
	£1.2 billion has been allocated to the Business Finance Partnership. HM Treasury will be investing £700 million this autumn in funds that lend to mid-sized businesses, following the receipt of bids earlier in the year and subsequent due diligence to select the strongest candidates. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will invest a further £100 million in non-traditional lending channels such as peer to peer lenders and supply chain finance, also this autumn. Bidding for the remaining £400 million closed in July and assessment of these bids is currently under way.

Child Tax Credit

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families received the child element of the child tax credit in Woking constituency in each of the last three years.

David Gauke: This information is published in the HMRC publication “Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics Finalised annual awards. Geographical analysis”. Information for the last three years available can be found here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/final-award-geog.htm
	The last three years available are 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. In the publications for each of these years, the average number of families who received the child element of child tax credit (CTC) in the Woking constituency can be found in table 3. The total number receiving the child element is found by summing the number of out-of-work families with the number of in-work families with children receiving either both working tax credit (WTC) and CTC, or CTC in excess of the family element.
	For convenience/these figures have been reproduced in the following table.
	
		
			 Average number of families benefiting from the child element of CTC 
			 Thousand 
			   In-work families with children  
			  Total out-of-work families Receiving WTC and CTC Receiving CTC only, more than the family element Total families benefiting from the child element of CTC 
			 2010-11 1.4 2.1 0.9 4.4 
			 2009-10 1.4 1.9 0.9 4.2 
			 2008-09 1.3 1.8 0.8 4.0 
			 Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the potential savings which would arise from reduced expenditure on childcare costs following the extension of the disadvantaged two year-old offer to 40 per cent of two year-olds; and whether he plans to use these savings to extend entitlement to childcare through the benefits and tax credits system.

David Gauke: This information is not available.

Construction: Self-employed

David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the number of people who are falsely self-employed in the construction industry; and what methodology he has used to reach this estimate.

David Gauke: Please see my answer of 27 June 2012, Official Report, column 309W, to a similar question
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120627/text/120627w0003.htm#12062779000435
	Paragraphs 2.6, 2.7 and page 6 of Annex A of the consultation document mentioned in my answer set out the methodology behind the estimate.

Economic and Monetary Union

Guy Opperman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the financial situation in the Eurozone on the UK economy.

Greg Clark: holding answer 18 September 2012
	As set out in Budget 2012, the euro area crisis poses a significant downside risk to the UK. According to the OECD:
	“economies both inside and outside the OECD area have been adversely affected by the euro area crisis through trade and confidence channels.”
	As the Prime Minister said on 17 May, whatever path the euro area takes the Government is prepared to do:
	“whatever is necessary to protect this country and secure our economy and financial system.”

EDF Group

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal of 11 September 2012, Official Report, columns 133-34, on nuclear power, what matters were discussed in the meeting with EDF; and what decisions were taken at the meeting.

Sajid Javid: This was an introductory meeting. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.

Finance Act 2008

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations his Department has received from those affected by the retrospective implementation of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008; and what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department had with representatives of those affected by section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 in the last 12 months;
	(2)  if he will commission a review of the effect of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008; and if he will place a copy of any such review in the Library;
	(3)  how much HM Revenue and Customs has collected through the retrospective application of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 in the last 12 months; and how much HM Revenue and Customs expects to collect from the retrospective application of section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 in the next 12 months.

David Gauke: Representations regarding section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 have been received from users of the wholly artificial tax avoidance scheme affected by section 58 seeking repeal of either its retrospective element or the section as a whole.
	No meetings have been held with the scheme's users or their representatives in the last 12 months beyond those with HMRC relating to individual inquiries.
	A new clause proposing a review of the implementation and impact of section 58 was introduced during the passage of this year's Finance Act but the clause was withdrawn after debate. The Government explained its position during that debate and has no plans to commission a review.
	UK residents are taxable on their worldwide income wherever it arises—including situations where it arises by way of foreign partnerships. Section 58 of Finance Act 2008 was enacted to help put that beyond doubt. As section 58 retrospectively clarified existing legislation, its introduction had no affect on any taxpayers' tax position.

Insolvency

Nick de Bois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many winding up orders HM Revenue and Customs applied for on behalf of (a) public limited companies, (b) sole traders and (c) partnerships in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009, (iv) 2010 and (v) 2011;
	(2)  how many (a) public limited companies, (b) sole traders and (c) partnerships HM Revenue and Customs placed into administration in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009, (iv) 2010 and (v) 2011.

David Gauke: holding answer 17 September 2012
	The figures for England and Wales(1) are:
	
		
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 (a) Companies (including PLCs)      
			 Petitions filed 5,978 4,128 3,656 3,268 4,897 
			 Orders obtained 3,164 2,902 2,342 1,965 2,349 
			       
			 (b) and (c) Individual and partnerships      
			 Petitions filed 6,753 6,478 5,184 4,002 4,618 
			 Orders obtained 3,964 3,939 4,330 2,867 3,023 
			 (1) England and Wales figures show figures of petitions filed where HMRC had had a first hearing. Some petitions are filed, but never get to hearing; this information is not available, and could be researched only at disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	The figures for Scotland are:
	
		
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 (a) Companies (including PLCs) (1)      
			 Petitions lodged 264 352 292 577 834 
			 Liquidations awarded 168 214 182 407 574 
			       
			 (b) and (c) Individual and partnerships (2)      
			 Sequestrations lodged 1,595 1,261 1,359 989 913 
			 Sequestrations awarded 1,100 888 843 671 535 
			 (1) The figures include limited companies and public limited companies; HMRC does not have figures which distinguish between the two. (2) HMRC does not have figures which distinguish between sole traders and partnerships. Where there is a partnership one petition is lodged which includes the firm and the partners. 
		
	
	In Northern Ireland HMRC uses the Crown Solicitors office to handle these cases. The Crown Solicitor's Office provided these figures and it does not hold any data prior to February 2010.
	
		
			  Companies Individuals and partnerships 
			 2011 224 492 
			 2010 205 (1)423 
			 (1) Figures For February to December 2010. 
		
	
	HM Revenue and Customs did not place into administration any (a) public limited companies, (b) sole traders or (c) partnerships for the years in question.

Nurseries

Owen Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many childcare places his Department provides on its estate; what the cost is of providing such places; how many such places his Department provided in 2010; what the cost was of providing such places in 2010; what plans he has for changes in the provision of such childcare places; and what the number of places will be once any such changes have been implemented.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury does not currently offer places for child care on a full-time daily basis at its estate at 1 Horse Guards Road. However, it does provide a holiday play scheme which runs six times a year which has a maximum number of 18 places available each time it is held. These places are also available to some of the other tenants in the building as well as other Departments in Whitehall. The play scheme has been running for a number of years at a cost of up to £5,000 each year. There are no plans to change the number of places offered.

Regulation

Simon Kirby: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect the reduction of red tape is having on the economy; and what legislative plans he has to further reduce regulation to encourage growth.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The fourth Statement of New Regulation, published in July 2012, reports on the first two years of application of the Government's One-in, One-out rule to new domestic regulation
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/better-regulation/docs/o/12-p96b-one-in-one-out-fourth-statement-new-regulation.pdf
	Copies of the Statement have been deposited in both libraries of the House.
	The Statement shows that the Government's One-in, One-out rule has resulted in an overall reduction in the net cost to business and civil society organisations approaching £850 million.
	Recent examples of savings to business which came into force on the 1 October 2012 include:
	removing regulatory burdens from hundreds of venues including pubs and clubs, making it easier for them to stage live music; and
	giving over 100,00 more small businesses the flexibility to decide whether or not their company accounts should be audited. The regulations also allow companies that prepare their accounts under International Financial Reporting Standards to move to UK GAPP and take advantage of reduced disclosures.
	The Government is continuing to take radical action on red tape to boost growth and jobs in the economy by systematically examining some 6,500 substantive regulations that it inherited, through the Red Tape Challenge process. The Government has committed to abolish or substantially reduce at least 3,000 of these regulations. We will complete the identification of the regulations to be scrapped or overhauled by December 2013.
	Commitments made through the Red Tape Challenge so far include:
	plans to scrap or reduce 85% of health & safety regulations, including:
	legislation next month to ensure that businesses will only be held liable for civil damages in health and safety cases if they can be shown to have acted negligently;
	binding new rules on both the Health and Safety Executive and on Local Authorities to, from April 2013, exempt hundreds of thousands of low risk businesses from health & safety inspections;
	a radical package of employment tribunal reforms, expected to deliver £40 million of savings per year to employers. The qualifying period for unfair dismissal has already increased from one to two years; and
	a portable Criminal Records Bureau check, which employers can view instantly online, will be available from Spring 2013.

Revenue and Customs

Nick de Bois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pieces of correspondence HM Revenue and Customs received from hon. Members did not receive a response for (a) three months, (b) four months, (c) five months, (d) six months and (e) longer than 12 months in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2011.

David Gauke: HMRC is aware of the importance that Ministers and Members of Parliament attach to this issue and is running a project to improve the handling of ministerial correspondence. The department has put in place new processes, including more focused management information from July 2011.
	The data HMRC hold from July 2011 to December 2011, for letters directed to HMRC for reply, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of months from receipt of letter until reply issued Number of cases 
			 Under three months 2,857 
			 3 months to 4 months 129 
			 4 months to 5 months 39 
			 5 months to 6 months 13 
			 6 months to 7 months 3 
			 Over 7 months 1 
			 Total number of letters received 3,042 
		
	
	Almost 94% of letters were answered within three months.
	Prior to this, information was collected in a database used to track the progress of all complaints correspondence. Interrogating this database shows that we dealt with 99% of letters within three months but there may be some under recording of this information due to the overall volume of correspondence received. The information from HMRC's complaints handling database is shown as follows.
	
		
			 Number of months from receipt of letter until reply issued 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Under three months 9,559 9,776 11,405 
			 3 months to 4 months 38 18 62 
			 4 months to 5 months 12 6 18 
			 5 months to 6 months 4 2 3 
			 6 months to 7 months 6 3 5 
			 Over 7 months 2 2 1 
			 Total number of letters received 9,621 9,807 11,494

Stocks and Shares

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the importance of the continued use of over-the-counter derivatives by non-financial companies;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of EU regulations restricting the use of over-the-counter derivatives by non-financial companies.

Greg Clark: Treasury Ministers and officials have discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private-sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. It is not the Government's practice to provide detail of such discussions.
	The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories, which was agreed earlier this year, puts in place a new legislative framework for the use of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. A key objective of European Markets Infrastructure Regulations is to mitigate systemic risk in the OTC derivatives market by centrally clearing OTC derivative transactions.
	The Regulation provides an exemption from the clearing obligation for non-financial companies for derivative contracts that are objectively measurable as reducing risk directly related to the commercial activity.
	The only restrictions on the use of OTC derivatives by non-financial companies will be when they are used for speculative purposes.

Taxation

Anne Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what advice he has taken from HM Revenue and Customs on whether users and promoters of schemes closed down retrospectively under section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 were informed that the schemes did not work;
	(2)  for what reason section 58 of the Finance Act 2008 was applied retrospectively despite HM Revenue and Customs having previously accepted claims for relief under the affected schemes; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  for what reason HM Revenue and Customs waited over 15 years to abolish the tax planning schemes that were closed down retrospectively through section 58 of the Finance Act 2008.

David Gauke: UK residents are taxable on their worldwide income wherever it arises—including situations where it arises by way of foreign partnerships. Section 58 of Finance Act 2008 was enacted to help put that beyond doubt and in so doing, made clear that a wholly artificial tax avoidance scheme involving a foreign partnership comprised of foreign trustees did not work.
	As part of HMRC's policy advisory function, advice on various aspects of the introduction of section 58 has been provided, including advice on the communications between HMRC and those affected by its introduction.
	The judgment in HMRC's favour following the judicial review of the introduction of section 58 Finance Act 2008 includes the finding that HMRC did not accept the legal interpretation advanced by users of the artificial avoidance scheme and indeed challenged that interpretation.
	HMRC has become aware that inquiries into a small number of returns have been closed in error. HMRC does not consider that this affects the rationale for the introduction of section 58.
	HMRC does not recognise the reference to a period of 15 years. As it became increasingly clear that use of this artificial and aggressive scheme was growing rapidly and that significant amounts of tax were involved in a scheme which involved a deliberate attempt to flout the intention of Parliament, the previous Government acted to introduce section 58 to restore fairness and provide certainty for all taxpayers.

Taxation: Aviation

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  in which international forums Ministers of his Department have raised the matter of a per-plane duty since May 2010;
	(2)  what meetings Ministers and officials in his Department have held with (a) the aviation industry and (b) other external organisations on the proposals in the 2011 Budget for a per-plane duty;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2012, Official Report, column 519W, on air passenger duty: international comparison, what the response of other countries was to the matters raised at the International Civil Aviation Organisation on a per-plane duty; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 18 September 2012
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 July 2012, Official Report, column 519W.
	Treasury Ministers and officials routinely meet with aviation stakeholders to discuss issues of mutual interest.
	As made clear previously, we will only proceed with proposals for a per-plane duty with international consensus.

Taxation: Combined Heat and Power

Phil Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of removing levy exemption certificates on (a) the finance of existing industrial combined heat and power plants and (b) investment in industrial combined heat and power in the next 10 years.

Sajid Javid: Budget 2011 announced the ending of the exemption from the climate change levy for electricity generated in combined heat and power (CHP) stations and supplied by electricity utilities from 1 April 2013.
	CHP levy exemption certificates are used in the administration of this exemption. Budget 2012 announced that such certificates will not be issued for CHP electricity generated on or after 1 April 2013, but electricity utilities will have five years to use up any stockpile of certificates they hold.
	This exemption was administratively complex and costly to the taxpayer. The impacts of removing the exemption are set out in the Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget 2012. This can be found on the HMRC website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0700.pdf
	This Government is committed to creating an environment that supports manufacturing within the UK and continues to incentivise CHP overall. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is looking at alternative ways to address barriers to investment in good-quality CHP plants.

Taxation: Fraud

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to HM Revenue and Customs' Most Wanted Tax Fugitives, published on 16 August 2012, how many of the top 20 most wanted are the subject of a European Arrest Warrant; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: holding answer 18 September 2012
	Of the 20 fugitives included in the HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) Tax Fugitives campaign currently six have had European arrest warrants issued against them.
	The remaining 14 fugitives have either:
	not yet been traced;
	are believed to be UK-based;
	are being considered for an European Arrest Warrant;
	are believed to be in a non-European Union country.
	The campaign has currently (as of Friday 14 September 2012) provided information on 13 of the 20 fugitives.

Unemployment: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people between the age of 16 and 64 years were economically inactive in electoral ward in the Peterborough City Council area on 31 March (a) 2001, (b) 2005 and (c) 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people between the age of 16 and 64 years were economically inactive on 31 March (a) 2001, (b) 2005 and (c) 2012 by electoral ward in the Peterborough City Council area; and if he will make a statement. (121456)(121458)
	Estimates for the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive by electoral ward, are produced from the Census. Latest Census data available by electoral ward is for the 2001 Census, data for 2011 Census has yet to be released.
	Table 1 shows the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive resident in each electoral ward in Peterborough from the 2001 Census.
	Estimates for the number of people aged 16 to 64 economically inactive for Peterborough parliamentary constituency are available from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Earliest data available is for the 12 month APS period January to December 2004.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of economically inactive people aged 16 to 64 resident by electoral wards in Peterborough in 2001 
			  Aged 16 to 64 
			 Barnack 346 
			 Bretton North 1,433 
			 Bretton South 473 
			 Central 2,064 
			 Dogsthorpe 1,606 
			 East 1,515 
			 Eye and Thorney 658 
			 Fletton 1,044 
			 Glinton and Wittering 715 
			 Newborough 286 
			 North 824 
			 Northborough 331 
			 Orton Longueville 1,679 
			 Orton Waterville 1,084 
			 Orton with Hampton 375 
			 Park 1,111 
			 Paston 1,282 
			 Ravensthorpe 1,246 
			 Stanground Central 1,122 
			 Stanground East 429 
			 Walton 662 
			 Werrington North 931 
			 Werrington South 857 
			 West 1,266 
			 Source: 2001 Census

VAT: Listed Buildings

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has considered removing full rate VAT on alterations to listed buildings with listed building planning consent; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: VAT at the standard rate will be payable on alterations to listed buildings from 1 October 2012. Under transitional arrangements which form part of the legislation, projects will continue to benefit from the zero rate until 30 September 2015 in cases where listed building consent had been applied for before Budget Day. The legislation for the removal of the zero-rate has only recently been enacted, and so the Treasury has not considered repealing it.

Olympic and Paralympic Games: G4S

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the role of G4S in providing security for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken regarding the performance of G4S at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Theresa May: G4S did not deliver their contract with LOCOG in full, but they still made a significant contribution—alongside the police and armed forces personnel—to games security. However, rightly, they will only be paid for the services that they provided and will meet the additional police and military costs that were incurred.

Local Crime Information

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to better inform people about crimes committed in their local area.

Damian Green: This Government has provided street-level crime maps on the Police.uk website, enabling people to see what crimes have been committed in their local area and what actions the police and courts have taken in response. Later this month, we will start to show names and photographs of individual offenders, along with details of their crime and sentence.

Migration

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress her Department has made in reducing net migration into the UK.

Mark Harper: In just over two years this Government has reformed every route of entry to the UK for non-EEA migrants. We have increased the skill level required to come for work, tackled abuse in the student sector and stopped family migrants who cannot financially support themselves coming to the country.
	Net migration is falling as a result of these measures.

Anti-Slavery Day

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to commemorate Anti-Slavery Day 2012.

Mark Harper: 10 members of the Inter-Department Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking are undertaking a range of activities, on or around Anti-Slavery Day, to commemorate this important occasion.

Animal Experiments

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 11 November 2009, Official Report, column 435W, on Wickham Research Laboratories: Animal Experiments, whether she now requires licence-holders under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to obtain her consent before carrying out an animal test for an identified product or substance, where their test is (a) for quality control purposes and (b) other types of regulatory testing; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Before any animal test is carried out under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), it is a requirement that it must be part of a programme specified in a project licence. No animal tests may be performed under ASPA without this prior consent.
	It remains Home Office practice to authorise specified programmes as opposed to individual tests. However, if authority is requested to carry out an animal test where an alternative test, not involving the use of an animal, has been validated and accepted by regulatory bodies in international test guidelines, applicants are required to provide evidence as to why the non-animal alternative cannot be used. This evidence would usually be for an identified product or substance or class of products or substances.

Anti-slavery Day

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans her Department has to mark Anti-Slavery Day on 18 October 2012.

Mark Harper: The Home Office is currently finalising a range of co-ordinated activities for members of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on human trafficking to mark Anti-Slavery Day and to raise awareness.

Assaults on Police: Sick Leave

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sickness days were taken as a result of assaults on (a) police and (b) community support officers in each police force in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The number of working days lost by police officers, as a result of sickness due to assaults, by police force area, in each of the last five years, are given in the following table. Figures are provisional and have not been verified by forces.
	The number of working days lost by police community support officers as a result of sickness due to assaults is not collected centrally by the Home Office.
	
		
			 Number of working days lost by police officers as a result of sickness due to assaults by police force area, 2007-08 to 2011-12 (1, 2) 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Avon and Somerset 566 751 (3)— 980 1,302 
			 Bedfordshire 219 62 52 256 274 
			 Cambridgeshire 120 25 196 87 194 
			 Cheshire 75 112 232 97 41 
			 Cleveland 77 108 68 68 12 
			 Cumbria (3)— 341 570 163 37 
			 Derbyshire 143 281 374 286 141 
			 Devon and Cornwall 188 31 230 166 928 
			 Dorset (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Durham 138 18 64 199 153 
			 Dyfed-Powys 154 161 81 35 102 
			 Essex 252 189 397 406 262 
			 Gloucestershire 47 16 244 75 93 
			 Greater Manchester 832 2,074 (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Gwent 122 (3)— 157 231 233 
			 Hampshire 191 (3)— (3)— 4 80 
			 Hertfordshire (3)— (3)— (3)— 36 (3)— 
			 Humberside 1,585 126 1,171 39 226 
			 Kent 431 400 594 471 609 
			 Lancashire 596 472 579 241 185 
			 Leicestershire (3)— 177 97 226 (3)— 
			 Lincolnshire 344 233 166 90 109 
			 London, City of 2 44 4 (3)— (3)— 
			 Merseyside 407 534 411 106 469 
			 Metropolitan Police 5,848 6,388 5,581 (3)— (3)— 
			 Norfolk 162 65 155 25 156 
			 Northamptonshire 6 20 25 25 18 
			 Northumbria 1,075 330 2,039 795 476 
			 North Wales 133 (3)— 53 163 19 
			 North Yorkshire (3)— (3)— (3)— 26 44 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottinghamshire 179 193 299 323 328 
			 South Wales (3)— 87 216 214 159 
			 South Yorkshire 69 209 237 35 86 
			 Staffordshire 174 115 186 90 433 
			 Suffolk 208 240 210 114 44 
			 Surrey 69 14 154 24 78 
			 Sussex 276 329 99 124 136 
			 Thames Valley (3)— 168 (3)— 300 142 
			 Warwickshire 24 29 60 87 150 
			 West Mercia 354 322 395 804 445 
			 West Midlands 1,166 1,200 1,198 1,065 1,183 
			 West Yorkshire 691 1,048 635 328 226 
			 Wiltshire (3)— (3)— 28 24 35 
			 (1) Figures are provisional and have not been verified by forces. (2) Assaults do not have to have taken place during the reporting period as long as the sick leave falls within the year. (3) Data not available. Force was not able to supply data at the time of collection.

Charities

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the (a) grant to and (b) use by registered charities of funding from her Department for the purposes of advocacy, lobbying or campaigning; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office makes grants under statute for specific purposes that fulfil the aims and objectives of the Department. Providing a grant to any organisation for the purpose of political advocacy, lobbying or campaigning would not be in line with Home Office policy, and is expressly prohibited by the terms and conditions of the standard Home Office grant agreement.
	Grants are monitored to ensure that the recipient uses the funding for the purposes specified, and complies with the terms and conditions of the grant agreement.

Deportation: Tamils

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the risk to failed Tamil asylum seekers of being tortured by Sri Lankan security services after deportation from the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency does not enforce the return of individuals unless it is safe to do so and when it and the courts are satisfied that the individual has no international protection needs. The agency's decision makers have access to the latest country report and an Operational Guidance Note for Sri Lanka; this helps to ensure that claims for protection are considered in light of objective information.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to help international students affected by the removal of the licence to teach international students at their places of study find new places to study and to provide funding for their studies.

Mark Harper: holding answer 18 September 2012
	The UK Border Agency (UKBA) acts in line with the Tier 4 sponsor guidance which states if it believes that students were actively involved (complicit) in the circumstances which led to the licence being revoked, they immediately cancel their permission to stay in the UK and the student has to leave the UK or face enforced removal.
	If UKBA believes that students were not actively involved in the circumstances which led to the licence being revoked, they will generally reduce (curtail) the student's permission to stay in the UK to 60 calendar days. This enables students to find new places to study. UKBA will, however, consider the individual circumstances of the student before reaching a decision on curtailment.
	If a student has less than 60 days' permission left, UKBA will not curtail it. If they have not found a new sponsor when their permission expires they will have to leave the UK or face enforced removal.

EU Justice and Home Affairs

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on Protocol 36 of the Treaties of the European Union regarding the UK's ability to opt out in the field of Justice and Home Affairs; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 13 September 2012
	The Government is currently considering the issue, where a decision would have to be notified by 31 May 2014. We will be listening carefully to the views of interested parties including from law enforcement agencies and others before taking a final decision.

Immigration Controls

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the e-Passport gates have been switched off (a) because of mechanical failure and (b) due to staff shortages in the last six months.

Mark Harper: The figures on the number of occasions that the e-Gates have been switched off due to mechanical failure are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost to the taxpayer.
	Ports deploy their available staffing resource as appropriate. While e-Gates are an important part of our arrangements at the border there are occasions, such as when a high proportion of non-EEA passengers is expected to arrive, when the most effective use of resource is to deploy staff to other forms of clearance. Figures on the number of times this happens are not available centrally.

Immigration Controls

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the average length of time taken to scan each (a) British and (b) non-British passport at passport control at UK airports.

Mark Harper: Opening and scanning passports forms one part of the clearance process at UK airports. There are a number of different types of British, EU and non EU passports. No recent estimate of the average length of time to scan each type has been made.

Immigration Controls

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any data from the e-Borders programme has been used to produce counts of students entering and exiting the UK; and if not, when she expects e-Borders data to be used to produce such counts.

Mark Harper: The e-Borders system enables checks to be made on individuals arriving or exiting the UK.
	Travel document data that are processed by the system do not identify if an individual is a student. Overseas students require a visa to study in the UK, although some nationalities only require a visa where they intend to study for more than six months.
	UKBA is able to cross-check e-Borders data against other systems to confirm purpose of entry to the UK. However, until e-Borders coverage is sufficiently broad we will not be in a position to count all departures including those of students.
	e-Borders currently tracks 55% of inbound and outbound passenger movements to and from the UK. This amounts to 68% of all aviation movements, and includes 100% of non-EU commercial aviation passengers.
	In July, e-Borders commenced work to include international ferry passengers with a plan of full roll-out by 2015.

Immigration Controls

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals currently residing in the UK are subject to conditions imposed in accordance with Article 27 of EU Directive 2004/58/EC.

Mark Harper: In accordance with article 27 of the free movement directive (Directive 2004/38/EC) member states may restrict the freedom of movement and residence of European Union citizens and their family members, irrespective of nationality, on grounds of public policy, public security or public health. The directive is transposed into UK law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.
	In 2011 the number of EEA nationals or their family members refused the right to reside in the UK was 8,495. A further 1,999 were refused permanent residence. Information relating to 2012 is currently not available. The UK Border Agency does not hold data on the reasons for those refusals.

London Metropolitan University

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students affected by the decision to revoke London Metropolitan University's highly trusted status she expects the UK Border Authority to write to in October to inform them that they have 60 days to find a new course.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency has advised students previously sponsored by London Metropolitan university, via its website, that they need to find a new sponsor following the decision to revoke London Metropolitan university's sponsor licence.
	From 1 October the UK Border Agency will write to all students who were sponsored by London Metropolitan university and have not applied for further leave to remain in the UK with a different sponsor.
	As the clearing house, set up to enable students to transfer to different sponsors, was only launched on 17 September, it is too early to know how many students will have not applied for further leave. Those students may be informed that their leave is reduced to 60 days.

Metals: Theft

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of metal theft from a domestic property occurred in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: It is not possible to provide the level of detail requested. There is no individual crime recording category for the theft of metal which is usually recorded under 'Other Theft' and includes theft from both domestic and non-domestic property.
	The Home Office have reviewed the 'Other Theft' category of police recorded crime and estimated that there were between 80,000 and 100,000 cases of metal theft out of over 400,000 cases from that crime classification category in England and Wales during 2010-11.

Metropolitan Police: Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 403W, on Bahrain, for what reasons each deployment of Metropolitan Police officers to Bahrain took place.

Damian Green: Both deployments were sought to provide advice and assistance to the Bahraini Authorities with specific investigations into terrorist attacks or attack planning in Bahrain.

Olympic Games 2012

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department used the Olympic Route Network for travel for official purposes during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

James Brokenshire: The Home Secretary used the Olympic route network (ORN) for games-related official business under the terms of her games accreditation but details of such journeys are not recorded. The ORN was not used for official purposes by any other Minister or official.

Olympic Games 2012: Security

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse has been of employing additional police and army personnel during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

James Brokenshire: The security of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is an ongoing operation. G4S have made clear that they will bear any additional military and policing costs arising from failure to meet their contractual obligations.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many shadow police and crime panels have been established; and in what areas such panels have been established.

Damian Green: Local authorities in England are responsible for establishing police and crime panels ( PCPs). Local authorities in all of the 37 areas in England have notified the Home Office that panel arrangements have been made and the required number of councillors appointed. In Wales the Secretary of State for the Home Department is responsible for the establishment of police and crime panels. Welsh local authorities were invited to develop panel arrangements and nominate councillors. The required number of councillors has been nominated to the PCPs for the four police force areas in Wales.

Police: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters her Department has received about future funding for the (a) Metropolitan Police and (b) British Transport Police in each month of (i) 2011-12 and (ii) 2012-13 to date; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The number of letters received by the Department about future funding for the Metropolitan police is shown in the following table. The Department does not deal with policing matters for the British Transport Police; this is an issue for the Department for Transport.
	
		
			 Fiscal year Month received Number of letters about future Metropolitan police funding Type of response 
			 2011-12 June 1 Ministerial 
			 2011-12 August 2 Treat Official 
			 2011-12 September 1 Ministerial 
			 2012-13 June 1 Ministerial

Police: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police community support officers and (b) police officers there were in (i) Richmond upon Thames, (ii) Waltham Forest and (iii) Haringey on 5 April (A) 2010, (B) 2011 and (C) 2012; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 574W.

Police: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police community support officers and (b) police officers there were in each London borough as at 31 March (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: Figures were collected by the Home Office for the number of police community support officers and police officers within each London borough, as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011 and are given in the following table.
	
		
			 Police community support officer and police officer strength within each London borough as at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011 (1, 2) 
			  Police community support officers Police officers 
			  31 March 2010 31 March 2011 31 March 2010 31 March 2011 
			 Barking and Dagenham 101 88 448 443 
		
	
	
		
			 Barnet 178 144 596 585 
			 Bexley 114 97 406 400 
			 Brent 137 112 712 682 
			 Bromley 169 149 524 511 
			 Camden 124 115 889 831 
			 City of London 52 44 308 317 
			 City of Westminster 391 338 1,656 1,586 
			 Croydon 173 141 755 736 
			 Ealing 179 143 728 697 
			 Enfield 170 150 601 580 
			 Greenwich 123 111 711 669 
			 Hackney 123 103 784 771 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 116 97 600 574 
			 Haringey 119 97 734 708 
			 Harrow 117 99 404 392 
			 Havering 124 113 395 387 
			 Heathrow 58 49 461 435 
			 Hillingdon 114 98 526 540 
			 Hounslow 109 94 540 522 
			 Islington 117 103 719 713 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 164 145 579 565 
			 Kingston upon Thames 92 72 337 321 
			 Lambeth 198 168 1,042 1,004 
			 Lewisham 119 109 691 657 
			 Merton 105 85 396 392 
			 Newham 156 130 826 805 
			 Redbridge 116 108 502 486 
			 Richmond upon Thames 103 87 335 307 
			 Southwark 154 131 964 933 
			 Sutton 97 76 356 344 
			 Tower Hamlets 131 121 829 793 
			 Waltham Forest 114 100 578 556 
			 Wandsworth 126 115 619 608 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police: Overseas Workers

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on deploying UK police forces to provide assistance to countries where the death penalty remains in place.

Damian Green: All requests to provide police assistance overseas are carefully considered and include an assessment, where the death penalty applies, of the risk that it may be enforced as a consequence of the assistance provided. In cases where the risk of the death penalty being imposed are significant, assurances are sought that a person found guilty would not face the death penalty before the assistance is agreed. The Home Secretary would decide, on a case by case basis, whether or not to authorise assistance under the provisions of section 26 of the Police Act 1996.

Sri Lanka

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make representations to the Government of Sri Lanka about claims on the website of its ministry of defence that the UK torture rehabilitation centre Freedom from Torture is a proxy terror front group.

Alistair Burt: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	The British Government, through our high commission in Colombo, raised this claim with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs shortly after it appeared on the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence website in February. As we made clear at the time, Freedom from Torture is a respected non governmental organisation. The use of such labels, without a clear evidential basis, for organisations that are pursuing legitimate human rights issues is counterproductive to reconciliation between the various communities in Sri Lanka.

Vetting: Young People

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what documents are required by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to prove the identity of a 16 or 17-year-old who wishes to enrol on a further education course which requires a CRB certificate; what consultation her Department or the CRB conducted on the question of whether 16 and 17-year-olds would be able to provide such identity documents; and how identity will be proved if a young person is unable to provide the required documents.

Jeremy Browne: All applicants for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) certificates must provide evidence of their identity irrespective of their age in accordance with the 'CRB identity checking process guidance' which is available on the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/crb/
	The CRB introduced enhancements to the identity (ID) checking guidelines to strengthen the process used by registered bodies for validating applicants in order to improve public protection on 1 September 2012.
	This guidance also includes the steps that can be taken where people are unable to provide the required identity documents.
	Exceptions have been made for 16 to 19-year-olds in full-time education. Additionally, they can use a letter confirming their identity from their Head Teacher or Principal as part of the range of required documents. Again, this information is available on the website.
	The CRB undertook an initial impact assessment with 20 registered bodies about the proposed changes and the potential impact on the registered bodies and applicants for disclosure (17 registered bodies from their top 50 users and three smaller registered bodies, together representing 23% of CRB's total annual applicant flow). This has been complemented by communication throughout the implementation period through emails and the usual CRB publications. The new process will be kept under review.

Witnesses

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy that witnesses should be able to retain a copy of their witness statement at the point at which they complete such a statement.

Damian Green: The Government has no plans to amend current practice in relation to witness statements.

Assaults On Police

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to take steps to increase sentences for those who assault police officers.

Jeremy Wright: The Government believe that the assault of any police officer is a serious matter and those who commit the offence should be punished appropriately. In 2011, the Sentencing Council issued guidelines for assault on a police constable in execution of his duty which apply to cases sentenced on or after 13 June 2011. Assault of a police officer is a specific offence appropriate to cases where no injury or significant injury is caused. The guideline for assault of a constable has higher ranges than common assault to reflect the aggravated nature of targeting a police officer. More severe injuries committed against a police officer are likely to attract charges of actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm for which substantial custodial sentences are available and where the guidelines direct the courts to take account of the fact that the assault was against a person working in the public sector.

Burglary

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted of household burglary in 2011 had been convicted of at least one previous offence.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number and percentage of offenders convicted of household burglary in 2011 who previously had been convicted of at least one previous offence.
	
		
			 Number and percentage of offenders convicted of household burglary offence in 2011 who previously had been convicted of at least one previous offence, England and Wales 
			 Number and percentage 
			  Number of offenders (2) 
			 Offence Total With at least one previous conviction Percentage 
			 Household burglary(1) 13,874 11,782 84.9 
			 (1) Household burglary offence include: (a) Theft Act 1968, sec.9—Burglary in a dwelling with intent to commit or the commission of an offence triable only on indictment. (b) Theft Act 1968, sec.9—Burglary in a dwelling with violence or the threat of violence (c) Theft Act 1968, sec.9—Other burglary in a dwelling. (2) The figures presented here have been taken from the Police National Computer (PNC), they may be differ from the figures taken from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) court proceedings database because the PNC is a live operational database and the number of records is subject to update when the more information become available to police. 
		
	
	These figures are a further breakdown of Table A7.5 in ‘Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update to December 2011’ which was published on 24 May 2012.
	The full report can be found at the link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/criminal-justice-stats-dec-2011.pdf
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.

Burglary

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the reoffending rates have been of people convicted of household burglary over the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: Table 1 shows the number of offenders in England and Wales who were convicted of household burglary and either released from custody or received a non-custodial conviction at court in each of the years 2005 to 2009 (the latest calendar year available). The re-offending rates for these offenders, i.e. the proportion that committed a proven re-offence within a one year follow-up period is also shown. Re-offending rates for 2010 will be published on 25 October 2012.
	
		
			 Table l: Re-offending rate of offenders who were convicted of household burglary (1)  and released from custody or received a non-custodial conviction at court in 2005-09 
			  Number of offenders Proportion of offenders who re-offend (%) 
			 2005 8,180 53.6 
			 2006 7,847 53.1 
			 2007 8,529 52.9 
			 2008 8,750 54.5 
			 2009 8,575 51.6 
			 (1) Includes offences under sections 9 and 10 of the Theft Act 1968: Burglary in a dwelling with intent to commit an offence; Burglary in a dwelling with violence or the threat of violence; Other burglary in a dwelling; Aggravated burglary in a dwelling (including attempts). 
		
	
	Proven re-offending is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.

Debt Collection

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to regulate the actions of debt collection companies to ensure that innocent people are not incorrectly targeted as a result of poor or inaccurate information gathering.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, businesses must hold a consumer credit licence if they wish to undertake consumer lending or related credit activities, including the collection of debts that have arisen under consumer credit agreements. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) considers the fitness and competence of businesses that apply for a licence and continues to monitor licensees, taking action where businesses do not reach or maintain the relevant standard.
	The OFT has issued guidance aimed at consumer credit licence holders involved in debt collection. The guidance makes clear the responsibility of licensees to ensure the quality and level of information they maintain and exchange with others. The guidance also sets out specific practices that the OFT would consider to be unfair and which would call into question the fitness of the business concerned, including practices relating to poor data accuracy, resulting in the pursuit of debt that is not owed, or pursuing the wrong debtor.

Driving Offences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people have been banned from driving who were under the age of 17 at the time of the imposition of the ban in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many people have been convicted of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs under section 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The number of disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17, in England and Wales, from 2009 to 2011 can be viewed in table 1.
	Young people who are convicted of driving offences will be subject to penalty points and disqualification even if they are not yet old enough to hold a driving licence. A disqualification of an offender aged under 17 means they cannot apply for or be issued with a driving licence until their disqualification period has passed. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority maintain a record of all disqualifications or penalty points awarded, including for offenders who do not currently hold a licence.
	For some driving offences (including dangerous driving, death by dangerous driving and drink driving), disqualification, is mandatory, therefore an offender would be disqualified whether or not they have a licence (be they over or under 17). Driving while disqualified is of itself a serious offence. For administrative reasons, a driving disqualification is in force from the time it is imposed by a court.
	The number of persons found guilty at all courts for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink and drugs under section 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, in England and Wales for 2011, can be viewed in table 2.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of disqualifications for all motoring offences at all courts, for offenders aged under 17 years, England and Wales, 2009-11 (1) 
			 Number 
			  2009 2010 2011 
			 Total number of disqualifications 1,791 1,227 1,021 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of persons found guilty at all courts for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink and drugs, England and Wales , 20 11 (1, 2) 
			 Statute Number 
			 Section 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 35 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Electronic Surveillance: Admissibility of Evidence

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for each of the last 10 years, how many trials have been abandoned due to the inadmissibility of intercept evidence under sections 17 and 18 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice holds statistical information in relation to defendants whose proceedings are abandoned in the magistrates courts or Crown court. However, the central administrative databases for courts do not store information on trials abandoned due to the inadmissibility of intercept evidence under sections 17 and 18 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. As such, the information requested can be obtained only through the manual inspection of individual case files held by the courts at disproportionate cost.

EU Justice and Home Affairs

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received on Protocol 36 of the Treaties of the European Union regarding the UK's ability to opt out in the field of Justice and Home Affairs; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government is considering carefully all the implications of what is a very complex issue. We welcome the views of interested parties ahead of making a final decision by 31 May 2014.
	We have taken note of the interests of the European and Departmental Select Committees. We are committed to a vote in Parliament and we will consult with the Committees on the arrangements for that vote.

Fines: Surcharges

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in what circumstances and on what basis a victim surcharge penalty can be imposed on an offender receiving a custodial sentence.

Helen Grant: The effect of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Surcharge) Order 2012, is that for offences committed on or after 1 October 2012, the Victim Surcharge will be payable when an offender is sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence imposed in the Crown court.

Imprisonment: Statistics

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 26 March 2012, Official Report, column 954W, on social benefit fraud, which courts did not send the defendants listed for (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 to prison;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2012, Official Report, column 418W, on theft convictions, which courts did not send defendants listed for (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 to prison;
	(3)  with reference to the answer of 14 November 2011, Official Report, column 551W, on offensive weapons: offences, which courts did not send the defendants listed for (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 to prison;
	(4)  with reference to the answer of 11 January 2011, Official Report, column 280W, on prison sentences: re-offenders, which courts did not send the defendants listed for (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 to prison.

Jeremy Wright: The table shows the court location where the defendants listed in the selected previous answers were sentenced between 2008 and 2010.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			 Courts where the judge or magistrates did not send the defendant, who committed an offence and had the highest number of previous cautions/convictions for the same offence at the point of sentence, to prison, England and Wales, 2008-10 
			 PQ Number Asked the Secretary of State for Justice: 2008 2009 2010 
			 121511 Court where the judge or magistrates did not send the defendant, who committed a social benefit fraud offence and had the highest number of previous cautions/convictions for the same offence at the point of sentence, to prison Selby Magistrates Court (Adult) Woodspring Magistrates Court (Adult) Stockport Magistrates Court (Adult) 
			 121535 Court where the judge or magistrates did not send the defendant, who committed a theft and handling stolen goods offence and had the highest number of previous cautions/convictions for the same offence at the point of sentence, to prison Manchester Magistrates Court (Adult) Blackburn, Darwen and Ribble Valley Magistrates Court (Adult) Bolton Magistrates Court (Adult) 
			 121512 Court where the judge or magistrates did not send the defendant, who committed a possession of offensive weapon offence and had the highest number of previous cautions/convictions for the same offence at the point of sentence, to prison Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court (Adult) Luton and South Bedfordshire Magistrates Court (Adult) Norwich Magistrates Court (Adult) 
			 121536 Court where the judge or magistrates did not send the defendant, who had the highest number of previous cautions/convictions at the point of sentence(1) to prison Huntingdonshire Magistrates Court (Adult) York Magistrates Court (Adult) Lancaster Magistrates Court (Adult) 
			 (1) The defendant with highest number of previous cautions/convictions at the point of sentence in 2008 was convicted for shoplifting; the defendant with highest number of previous cautions/convictions at the point of sentence in 2009 was convicted for shoplifting; and the defendant with highest number of previous cautions/convictions at the point of sentence in 2010 was convicted for an identity fraud offence.

Offenders

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2012, Official Report, columns 1161-2W, on offenders, how many offenders had (a) one conviction, (b) two convictions and (c) three or more convictions for (i) a knife-related offence, (ii) a firearms-related offence and (iii) rape in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: Of the offenders in the top 10 for previous convictions; four had one previous conviction and one had three or more previous convictions for knife offences; and one offender had a previous conviction for firearms offences. None of the offenders in the top 10 for previous convictions have ever been convicted of rape.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.

Offenders: Foreign Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign nationals convicted of (a) rape, (b) sexual offences against children, (c) other sexual offences and (d) a violent offence were released from prison after serving custodial sentences of (i) less than one year, (ii) between one and two years, (iii) between two and three years, (iv) between three and four years, (v) between four and five years, (vi) between five and six years, (vii) between six and seven years, (viii) between seven and eight years, (ix) between eight and nine years, (x) between nine and 10 years, (xi) between 10 and 11 years, (xii) between 11 and 12 years, (xiii) between 12 and 15 years, (xiv) between 15 and 20 years and (xv) over 20 years in 2011.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of foreign national prisoners released from determinate sentences for (a) rape, (b) other sexual offences, and (c) violence against the person offences, by detailed sentence length band in 2011. From the data held centrally, it is not possible to separately identify those offenders convicted of sexual offences against children; they are included with other sexual offences.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Foreign national prisoners discharged from determinate sentences, rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person, England and Wales 2011 
			  Rape Other sexual offences Violence against the person 
			 Total 101 138 1,172 
			 Less than one year 0 58 818 
			 1 years to less than 2 years 2 30 145 
			 2 years to less than 3 years 2 14 67 
			 3 years to less than 4 years 7 9 41 
			 4 years to less than 5 years 10 9 35 
			 5 years to less than 6 years 13 8 18 
			 6 years to less than 7 years 11 5 15 
			 7 years to less than 8 years 13 0 10 
			 8 years to less than 9 years 9 3 7 
			 9 years to less than 10 years 10 1 5 
			 10 years to less than 11 years 10 0 2 
			 11 years to less than 12 years 3 1 4 
			 12 years to less than 15 years 10 0 4 
			 15 years to less than 20 years 1 0 1 
			 20 years to less than life 0 0 0

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed a Low Intensity Alcohol programme in the community in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed a Community Drink Violence programme in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed an Offender Substance Abuse programme in the community in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed an Addressing Substance Related Offending programme in the community in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(5)  how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed a Women's Programme (Acquisitive Crime) in the community in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Community Accredited Programme Delivery by Programme 2011-12 
			 Programme Commencements Completions 
			 Low Intensity Alcohol Programme (LIAP) 441 364 
			 Control of Violence for Angry and Impulsive Drinkers (COVAID) 316 239 
			 Offender Substance Abuse Programme (OSAP) 325 185 
			 Addressing Substance Related Offending (ASRO) 470 329 
			 The Women's Programme 162 89 
		
	
	The figures in the table should not be used to estimate a completion rate for an individual programme: many offenders commencing during 2011-12 may actually complete in the following financial year. Likewise, a number of those completing during 2011-12 would have commenced in the previous financial year.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prison Service

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Prison Service principal officers (a) signed up to and (b) passed the Developing Prison Service Managers course in the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: A total of 669 Prison Service principal officers joined the Developing Prison Service Manager programme between its inception in 2009 and its conclusion in 2012. Of these, 88 completed the programme and gained accreditation as operational managers.

Prisoners' Release

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2011, Official Report, columns 844-50W, on prisoners' release, how many prisoners were discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offence and violence against the person in 2011; how many prisoners were discharged from determinate sentences on licence for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person in 2011; what proportion of a sentence was served, including time on remand, on average in prison by prisoners discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person in 2011; and how many offenders were recalled to custody for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person in 2011.

Jeremy Wright: The requested information is included in the following tables.
	The first table shows the number of prisoners discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person offences in 2011.
	The second table shows the number of prisoners discharged from determinate sentences on license for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person offences in 2011.
	The third table shows the percentage of time served (including remand) in prison by prisoners discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person offences in 2011.
	The fourth table shows the number of offenders recalled to custody in 2011 who had originally been convicted of rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person offences. The number of recalls in a given year should not be compared with the number of discharges in that year, because offenders will not necessarily be released and recalled in the same year.
	
		
			 Table 1: Prisoners discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person, England and Wales, 2011 
			  All discharges 
			 Rape 767 
			 Other sexual offence 1,640 
			 Violence against the person 18,126 
			 Note: Data sources and quality—These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Prisoners discharged from determinate sentences on licence for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person, England and Wales, 2011 
			  Licence discharges 
			 Rape 764 
			 Other sexual offence 1,418 
			 Violence against the person 10,213 
			 Note: Data sources and quality These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Percentage of time served (including remand) in prison by prisoners discharged from determinate sentences for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person, England and Wales, 2011 
			  Rape Other sexual offence Violence against the person 
			 Total 745 1.589 17.211 
			 Less than 50%(1) 92 176 6.990 
			 50% to less than 2/3 498 1.164 8.225 
			 2/3 or more(2) 155 249 1.996 
			 (1) This includes cases where prisoners were deported or where the prisoner was discharged on the Friday before a weekend release date. (2 )All those serving two-thirds or more of their sentence have been grouped together because their time served may include time on recall. Notes: 1. The totals in this table do not match those in table 1 because this table excludes a small proportion of cases where information on the time served is not held centrally. 2. Data sources and quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Number of offenders recalled to custody in 2011 for rape, other sexual offences and violence against the person. 
			  Recalled to custody 
			 Rape 210 
			 Other sexual offences 558 
			 Violence against the person 3,134 
			 Note: Date sources and quality—These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Television

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many televisions were removed from prisoners' cells (a) temporarily and (b) permanently in each of the last two years.

Jeremy Wright: The information requested is not collated centrally nor required to be recorded locally, and could be obtained only by manual checking with individual establishments, which would incur disproportionate cost.
	Televisions in cells are available as a privilege under the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme and prisoners are charged for their use. They are a forfeitable privilege and can be withdrawn for a variety of reasons.

Sexual Offences: Rehabilitation

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people (a) commenced and (b) completed a community sex offenders programme in the last year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: In 2011-12 there were 2,125 recorded starts of Sex Offender Treatment Programmes in the community and 1,596 completions.
	The figure for starts given above may understate the total number of starts, as Cheshire and Greater Manchester probation trusts began using the national information system to record programmes data during quarter one of 2011-12.
	The above figures should not be used to estimate a completion rate for these programmes: many offenders commencing during 2011-12 may actually complete in a subsequent year; likewise, a number of those completing during 2011-12 would have commenced in a previous financial year.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Combined Heat and Power

Phil Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to increase the use of combined heat and power; and what comparative assessment he has made of levels of industrial combined heat and power use in the UK and other EU member states.

Gregory Barker: The Government supports increased deployment of renewable combined heat and power (CHP) via the renewables obligation and we are currently consulting on expanding the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, including a specific tariff for heat from renewable CHP.
	Fossil fuel fired CHP benefits from exemption from the climate change levy on input fuel and output electricity consumed on-site. Smaller fossil fuel CHP schemes will benefit from the proposed changes to the carbon reduction commitment and the exemption from carbon price support costs for CHP below 2 MW. As indicated in my response to question 121953, we are examining the case for further forms of support.
	We have examined deployment of, and support regimes for, fossil fuel fired CHP in other EU member states, in particular drawing on the EU Code project and IEA Country Scorecards. On average, across the EU, CHP contributes 11% to electrical generating capacity, compared to 7% in the UK. We are currently updating our estimates of UK potential CHP capacity.

Electricity: Meters

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the national roll-out of home automation systems as part of a UK smart grid.

John Hayes: There is no specific policy objective for a national roll-out of home automation systems. However, the Smart Meter Programme will help support home automation systems by facilitating the uptake of a range of devices including smart appliances and advanced heating controls, while we are exploring how other Government delivery programmes including Green Deal could provide further support.

Energy Company Obligation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to introduce procedures or mechanisms to (a) enable third-party referrals of eligible households to the Affordable Warmth scheme and (b) ensure that any such referrals meet with a positive and proportionate response; and if he will publish, in the first year of the energy company obligation, information on third-party referrals to the Affordable Warmth programme including data on measures subsequently installed. [R]

Gregory Barker: Government is working to provide a referrals mechanism of eligible households from the Energy Saving Advice Service to participating energy suppliers to help improve access to the assistance available under the Affordable Warmth element of the energy company obligation. Households will need to give their consent for this referral to take place, but the call to ESAS could be initiated by a third party. The proposal for a referrals mechanism was included in the green deal and ECO consultation and was welcomed by the majority of respondents on that issue.
	As part of this mechanism, Government is seeking an agreement with energy suppliers over how the referrals will be handled to ensure a high level of customer service.
	Information on the measures installed under ECO will be collected by Ofgem.

Foresee Ltd

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  when and where each of the contracts his Department awarded to Foresee Limited were advertised;
	(2)  who (a) applied and (b) was interviewed for each of the contracts his Department awarded to Foresee Limited;
	(3)  whether Miriam Maes was formally interviewed for each of the two contracts she secured with his Department;
	(4)  how much was claimed in expenses by Miriam Maes during her time as a consultant to his Department;
	(5)  pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 316W, on procurement, which Minister in his Department signed off the contract with Foresee Ltd.

Edward Davey: Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker), that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the permanent secretary. It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.
	Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011 at:
	www.contractsfinder.co.uk
	Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.
	Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes’ contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.
	Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental e-mail account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by e-mail. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes’ mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.
	Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx
	A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx
	The Department has released a number of e-mails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department’s website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the permanent secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the performance of (a) the Priority Group and (b) the Super Priority Group elements of the carbon emissions reduction target in reducing fuel poverty; and what proportion of households receiving assistance through the Priority Group element were required to make a financial contribution towards the cost of the work. [R]

Gregory Barker: The Government estimated that the impact of the carbon emission reduction target (CERT) would be to sustainably remove around 163,000 households from fuel poverty from 2008 to 2011; and that, under the CERT extension to the end of 2012 which introduced the CERT Super Priority Group, around 185,000 households would receive measures to provide a long-term solution to fuel poverty.
	These estimates were published in the following reports:
	CERT :
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/about-us/Science/3149-estimating-effect-cert.pdf
	CERT Extension :
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/meeting-energy-demand/international-energy/2289-uk-report-eu-enduse-esd.pdf
	Energy suppliers are not required to submit information on the cost of the work they carry out under CERT and therefore we are not able to provide an estimate of the proportion of households receiving assistance through the Priority Group element who were required to make a financial contribution towards the cost of the work. Government has taken powers to require energy suppliers to report on the cost of measures under the forthcoming energy company obligation.

Infrastructure

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the National Infrastructure Plan 2011, whether community benefit will be available to communities that are affected by a new nuclear development hosted by a neighbouring authority.

John Hayes: The Department is currently considering proposals for a community benefit package for communities hosting new nuclear. Details of any decisions will be made available by the end of 2012.

Infrastructure

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the National Infrastructure Plan 2011, what plans are in place for achieving community benefit for communities affected by Hinkley Point C.

John Hayes: Plans for a community benefit package for sites that host new nuclear power stations are currently under consideration. The National Infrastructure Plan committed Government to bring forward proposals by the end of 2012.

Miriam Maes

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how much Miriam Maes has been paid by his Department since May 2010;
	(2)  when Miriam Maes' departmental staff pass (a) was issued and (b) expired;
	(3)  when Miriam Maes' contract with his Department (a) started and (b) ended;
	(4)  which Minister approved the extension of Miriam Maes' contract;
	(5)  if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence and emails between (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers and Miriam Maes since 3 November 2011;
	(6)  whether (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers in his Department were notified of Miriam Maes' clients at Foresee;
	(7)  whether Miriam Maes was (a) invited or (b) attended meetings with (i) Ministers, (ii) officials and (iii) special advisers prior to her engagement by his Department;
	(8)  if he will place in the Library a copy of Miriam Maes' contract with his Department;
	(9)  if he will place a copy of Miriam Maes' weekly update emails to his Department between (a) September 2010 and May 2011 and (b) July 2011 and March 2012 in the Library;
	(10)  whether Miriam Maes was employed by his Department in any capacity since May 2011;
	(11)  whether the post of Delivery Adviser to his Department on energy efficiency was advertised prior to the appointment of Miriam Maes.

Edward Davey: Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker) that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the Permanent Secretary. It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.
	Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011
	www.contractsfinder.co.uk
	Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.
	Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.
	Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental email account. The department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by email. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative Party Conference in 2010.
	Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February 2012. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx
	A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx
	The Department has released a number of emails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the Permanent Secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Miriam Maes

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what the (a) terms of reference, (b) evidence examined, (c) length of time and (d) findings were of the examination by his Department's Permanent Secretary of Miriam Maes' employment;
	(2)  who attended the 6.00 pm meeting between Miriam Maes and the Minister of State for Climate Change on 15 February 2011 at the Royal Horse Guards Hotel; what the agenda was of the meeting; and which officials from his Department were present to minute the meeting;
	(3)  whether there have been any email exchanges between the Minister of State for Climate Change and Miriam Maes relating to departmental activities that were sent or received from non-departmental email addresses; and if he will publish any such correspondence.

Edward Davey: Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants, The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the Permanent Secretary. It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.
	Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011:
	www.contractsfinder.co.uk
	Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.
	Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.
	Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental email account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by email. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.
	Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx
	A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx
	The Department has released a number of emails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the Permanent Secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Miriam Maes

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  whether his Department funded any part of the attendance of Miriam Maes at the Conservative party conference in 2010;
	(2)  what his Department's policy is on the use of business email addresses on departmental business cards;
	(3)  on how many occasions Ministers in his Department contacted Miriam Maes via an email account held by Foresee Ltd while she was a delivery adviser to his Department;
	(4)  whether his Department contributed to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone number ending 670 which appeared on her departmental business card and her Foresee Ltd business card;
	(5)  what funding Ministers in his Department have approved for any company which was a client of Miriam Maes or Foresee Ltd since May 2010;
	(6)  what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with any company which was a client of Miriam Maes or Foresee Ltd since May 2010.

Edward Davey: Miriam Maes was contracted by DECC for the period September 2010 to May 2011, following a competitive tender process. The competition was run by inviting four candidates considered to be energy efficiency experts to submit tenders. Miriam Maes and one other candidate were interviewed by civil servants. The names of the unsuccessful candidates are confidential. Civil servants made a recommendation to the Minister for Climate Change that the Department appoint Miriam Maes, which the Minister agreed. This contract was extended once on the recommendation of civil servants, with the approval of the permanent secretary.
	It is not normal procedure to ask Ministers to approve an extension of this size. Miriam Maes was provided with business cards. Business cards are used to help identify DECC members of staff and, where appropriate, contractors to the Department, and record contact details.
	Ms Maes was subsequently contracted, following a competitively tendered process for the period July 2011 to March 2012. This competition was advertised on Contracts Finder in June 2011
	www.contractsfinder.co.uk
	Civil servants conducted the interview process, no Minister was asked to sign off the appointment. Miriam Maes has been paid £49,000 (+VAT) and has claimed £338.40 in expenses under the above contracts. Miriam attended some meetings at DECC outside of her contracted periods.
	Consultants are expected to comply with their contractual terms. A copy of Ms Maes' contract has been placed in the Library, redacted as necessary. Ms Maes notified the Department of her clients at Foresee and it is not departmental policy to publish such declarations for reasons of confidentiality.
	Miriam Maes had a departmental pass that was valid between 23 September 2010 and 31 May 2011, but was not provided with a departmental e-mail account. The Department does not hold a central record of the occasions on which Miriam Maes was contacted by e-mail. The Department did not contribute to the cost of Miriam Maes' mobile telephone, nor her attendance at the Conservative party conference in 2010.
	Ministers from time to time will meet external stakeholders for informal discussions. Officials did not attend the meeting on 15 February. Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/ministermtgs/ministermtgs.aspx
	A record of all departmental spend above £500 is available on the DECC website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/expenditure/expenditure.aspx
	The Department has released a number of e-mails between Miriam Maes and the Department, and these are available on the Department's website. The Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change was informed of progress in responding to the freedom of information request and shown the material for release pre-publication. He did not make the decision in relation to this request. Some further information in this area has been requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and my Department is considering the request in accordance with the requirements of that Act. Information relating to internal discussions and advice, including that from the permanent secretary to Ministers on matters such as this, is not normally disclosed.

Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding his Department has allocated to Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since 2010.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not record information on the basis of the constituency to which funding has been allocated. To establish this information would involve manually reviewing all supplier and grant payments and agreements made by the Department which would incur disproportionate costs.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many occasions he and officials in his Department have (a) met with representatives of and (b) visited local communities affected by the proposed Hinkley Point C development.

John Hayes: Since the original public consultation in 2007 which led to the publication of the Nuclear White Paper in 2008 officials from my Department have made a series of visits to the Hinkley Point area to meet representatives of interested parties, including four visits in the last few months. We intend that these contacts should continue and have established a Strategic Development Forum to facilitate this.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what work his Department has undertaken to take forward the proposals of the Science and Technology Select Committee in its report, Devil's bargain: Energy risks and the public, for the use of partnership models and community benefits in the new nuclear build process.

John Hayes: The Department is currently developing proposals for community benefits for sites that host new nuclear power stations; these proposals are being developed in consideration of the recommendations of the Science and Technology Committee report.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to page 62 of the National Infrastructure Plan 2011, what steps his Department takes to bring forward proposals by 2012 for reform of the community benefit regime with regard to nuclear power.

John Hayes: The Department has analysed overseas examples of community benefit regimes, developed different scenarios and had a number of discussions with colleagues in HM Treasury, Department for Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office to bring forward proposals on community benefit by the end of 2012.

Research

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on research and development in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and how much he plans to spend in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Gregory Barker: The departmental spend, excluding its non-departmental public bodies, on research and development for the period 2008-12 is as follows:
	(a) 2008-09: £33 million
	(b) 2009-10: £23 million
	(c) 2010-11: £69 million
	(d) 2011-12: £20 million.
	The significant increase in the year 2010-11 relates to the Government awarded funding to E.ON UK and the Scottish Power CCS Consortium to carry out front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies as part of the procurement process for the UK's first commercial scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project. The FEED programme came to an end in 2011 (FY 2010-11).
	DECC has published this information in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts for successive years 2008-09 to 2011-12, copies of which have been deposited in the House of Commons Library as follows:
	HC Paper 209 (2009-10)—page 77, including re-stated 2008-09 figures.
	HC Paper 1009 (2010-11)—page 98.
	HC Paper 63 (2011-12)—pages 119 to 120 (core Department figures).
	For spending in 2012-15, DECC is in the process of developing detailed business plans, and figures are not yet available.

Carers: Young People

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his strategy is for extending support to young carers over the next three years.

Edward Timpson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Education.
	Our strategy for extending support to young carers can be found in “Recognised, valued and supported: next steps for the Carers Strategy”. A copy is in the House Libraries.
	We will continue to provide strategic national support and practical advice to local services to help improve the support available to young carers and their families. This will include sharing evidence based research and best practice about what really works in the design and delivery of services. We are also working with the Department of Health on their draft Care and Support Bill to improve transition arrangements for young carers when they reach age 18 and move from children's to adult's services.

Community Nurses

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent community nurses operating in the UK there have been in each year since May 1997.

Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects details of the number of staff employed in England only. The following table gives the number of community nurses employed in England in the years requested.
	
		
			 National health service hospital and community health services: Qualified nursing staff in each specified level and Community Nursing area of work as at 30 September each specified year 
			 Full-time equivalent 
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
			 All Specified Nursing staff 55,574 57,141 58,678 59,988 62,786 65,050 68,863 73,809 
			 Community Matron(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			 District nurse 11,106 11,209 11,138 10,976 10,526 10,446 10,303 9,766 
			 Health visitor 9,932 9,960 10,066 9,918 10,012 9,774 9,827 9,951 
			 Qualified School nursing(2) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 792 1,610 
			 Of which:         
			 Qualified School Nurse n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 341 605 
			 Other Qualified Community Nursing 12,660 13,327 14,079 15,065 16,699 18,190 19,838 22,261 
			 Community Learning Disabilities Nursing 2,890 2,931 3,147 3,256 3,547 3,488 3,212 3,258 
			 Community Psychiatric Nursing 8,905 9355 9,558 10,062 10,839 11,155 11,924 13,400 
			 General Practitioner (GP) Practice Nurses(3) 10,082 10,359 10,689 10,711 11,163 11,998 12,967 13,563 
		
	
	
		
			 Full-time equivalent 
			  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 All Specified Nursing staff 77,193 78,837 78,841 80,257 82,849 82,505 80,910 
			 Community Matron(1) n/a 351 571 1,421 1,552 1,552 1,469 
			 District nurse 9,569 9,023 8,717 8,352 7,860 7,693 6,937 
			 Health visitor 9,669 9,241 8,959 8,644 8,307 8,017 7,941 
			 Qualified School nursing(2) 1,890 2,035 2,225 2,606 2,986 3,003 2,997 
			 Of which:        
			 Qualified School Nurse 664 807 892 1,045 1,167 1,096 1,165 
			 Other Qualified Community Nursing 24,780 25,708 26,060 27,640 30,387 30,517 30,053 
			 Community Learning Disabilities Nursing 3467 3,081 2,857 2,611 2,647 2,570 2,367 
			 Community Psychiatric Nursing 14,325 14,782 14,897 15,022 15,528 15,986 15,575 
			 General Practitioner (GP) Practice Nurses(3) 13,793 14,616 14,554 13,962 13,582 13,167 13,573 
			 n/a = Not applicable (1 )The numbers of Community Matrons were not separately identifiable until 2006. Figures for earlier years may not represent a full dataset until use of the new occupation code became established. (2) The numbers of School Nursing staff were not separately identifiable until 2003. Figures for earlier years may not represent a full dataset until use of the new occupation code became established. (3) Figures for GP Practice Nurses for 1997, 1998 and 1999 are estimated. Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. 2. These figures exclude bank staff. Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: 1. Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census. 2. Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Health Services

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to introduce a comprehensive and instant patient survey system for the NHS using social media and mobile telephones for the purpose of improving health care quality.

Daniel Poulter: In May 2012, the Government published its information strategy for health and social care. The strategy sets out a move towards a new culture of transparency, where people will be encouraged to provide instant feedback about health care services. Real time patient feedback is important for both patients and the providers of health care, so they can act upon feedback to improve patient care.
	The patient information strategy makes clear that to achieve significant and meaningful volumes of feedback patients will need to have a range of opportunities to make views known. This will include using different technologies and channels giving a choice about how to provide feedback, and these will include mobile phones, and using social media.

Hospitals: Parking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidelines he has issued to the NHS to prevent the introduction of parking charges at hospitals for disabled patients;
	(2)  what guidelines he has issued to the NHS on concessionary parking charges for patients who require extended or frequent care in hospitals;
	(3)  with reference to his Department's 2010 consultation on NHS car parking, how his Department assesses hospital car parks' compliance with the guidelines on exemptions and concessionary schemes for certain patients.

Daniel Poulter: This Government made clear in its consultation response in September 2010 that national health service organisations are responsible for their own policy on car parking, taking into account local operational circumstances and local community interests. These local policies should continue to include fair concessions for all patients whose health care needs require extended or frequent access to hospital. This will include, but is not restricted to, disabled patients. Hospitals must also comply with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and related legislation to meet the needs of disabled visitors.
	The Department no longer issues guidance to the NHS specifying how car parking, including charging and concessions, should be provided. Best practice guidance was issued by the NHS Confederation in their “Fair for all, not free for all” publication in April 2009. That guidance stresses the obligation to provide appropriate concessions.
	Hospitals should be held to account by their local communities, including foundation trust memberships and other public groups, for the car parking services they provide.

Hospitals: Parking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to reintroduce the centralised collection of data on income from hospital car parks; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: This data is not collected centrally following a review by the previous Government, which resulted in the removal of collection of data relating to income received from car parking charges from visitors and staff in 2008-09. There is no intention to re-introduce central collection of this data at this time, however, it is available locally from national health service organisations directly.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to take steps to clarify the legal framework for accessing patient data for medical research.

Daniel Poulter: The Government is currently negotiating a new general European Union data protection regulation which will require changes to domestic legislation in due course. The Government will seek to ensure that any new data protection legislation provides a clear and workable framework for health research, while protecting the rights of individuals.
	The legal framework for accessing patient data for medical research is complex however and is not limited to data protection considerations. The Department has commissioned a review of the current rules and their application in relation to health data. The aim of this review is to ensure that an appropriate balance is struck between the protection of confidential and identifiable information within our health and care records and the use and sharing of that information for research and a range of other purposes to benefit patient care.

NHS: Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 112W, on NHS: pay, if he will request that the Government Actuary's Department estimate the highest paid position in the NHS based on pension contributions.

Daniel Poulter: The Government Actuary's Department does not hold data on individual member contributions.
	Their best estimate for the highest paid post in the national health service based on pension contributions is that of a consultant on pensionable pay of £294,530 per annum. The estimate was based on the latest available pension scheme valuation costs for (2009-10) and was provided by the NHS Business Services Authority.

NHS: Standards

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence quality standards will play in the assessment of NHS performance.

Norman Lamb: Quality Standards provide a clear definition of what high-quality health and social care looks like for a range of conditions and diseases, so that organisations can improve quality and achieve excellence. They should support local benchmarking of current performance against evidence-based measures of best practice to identify priorities for improvement. Although Quality Standards set out aspirational but achievable care, they are not a mandatory requirement. In the new care system, the Secretary of State and the NHS Commissioning Board must have regard to them in planning and delivering services, as part of a general duty to secure continuous improvement in quality. Additionally, Quality Standards will play a key role in the development of the Commissioning Outcomes Framework, which will measure the health outcomes and quality of care achieved by clinical commissioning groups.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and other Ministers in the Department, have undertaken the following visits and speaking engagement to the city of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire since May 2010, as shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Minister Location 
			 1 July 2010 Simon Burns Newark Hospital, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
		
	
	
		
			 9 December 2010 Earl Howe Bassetlaw Commissioning Organisation, Nottinghamshire 
			 9 February 2011 Anne Milton Speech, Public Health White Paper Consultation Event, Nottingham 
			 7 March 2011 Andrew Lansley Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Queen's Medical Centre 
			 12 May 2011 Andrew Lansley Meeting with GP consortia at Nottingham Conference Centre 
			 23 June 2011 Andrew Lansley Rampton Secure Hospital, Nottinghamshire 
			 1 May 2012 Simon Burns Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust—Nottingham City Hospital, Queens Medical Centre and Nottingham West Clinical Commissioning Group

Out-patients: Attendance

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hospital appointments have been missed in (a) Dartford constituency, (b) Kent and (c) the UK; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The available information is shown in the following table.
	No estimates have been made centrally of the cost to the national health service of
	missed out-patient appointments.
	
		
			 Out-patient appointments and missed appointments (DNA), Consultant led, All specialties. 2007-08 to 2011-12—provider based 
			  First attendances seen First attendances DNA First appointments % first appointments DNA Subsequent attendances seen Subsequent appointments DNA Subsequent appointments % subsequent appointments DNA 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust         
			 2007-08 43,608 3,401 47,009 7.2 76,682 6,975 83,657 8.3 
			 2008-09 46,009 2,660 48,669 5.5 79,184 7,437 86,621 8.6 
			 2009-10 46,821 3,407 50,228 6.8 77,561 6,781 64,342 8.0 
			 2010-11 48,104 3,545 51,649 6.9 86,063 6,707 92,770 7.2 
			 2011-12 55,259 4,055 59,314 6.8 92,355 6,627 98,982 6.7 
			          
			 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust         
			 2007-08 155,917 14,840 170,757 8.7 321,609 32,104 353,713 9.1 
			 2008-09 166,401 14,119 180,520 7.8 320,503 31,804 352,307 9.0 
			 2009-10 181,842 16,038 197,880 8.1 318,135 34,559 352,694 9.8 
			 2010-11 203,340 17,714 221,054 8.0 356,106 35,612 391,718 9.1 
			 2011-12 164,350 14,083 178,433 7.9 300,708 26,433 357,141 8.1 
			          
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust         
			 2007-08 85,203 7,060 92,263 7.7 152,058 16,713 168,771 9.9 
		
	
	
		
			 2008-09 99,062 8,022 107,084 7.5 167,908 18,574 186,482 10.0 
			 2009-10 103,818 7,688 111,506 6.9 155,875 18,029 173,904 10.4 
			 2010-11 99,837 7,729 107,566 7.2 181,030 18,539 199,569 9.3 
			 2011-12 119,989 9,102 129,091 7.1 221,354 21,226 242,580 8.8 
			          
			 Medway NHS Foundation Trust         
			 2007-08 74,490 7,227 81,717 8.8 146,791 19,299 166,090 11.6 
			 2008-09 80,482 7,063 87,545 8.1 146,735 19,319 166,054 11.6 
			 2009-10 88,015 8,011 96,026 8.3 148,428 18,987 167,415 11.3 
			 2010-11 92,836 8,599 101,435 8.5 176,386 18,941 195,329 9.7 
			 2011-12 92,836 7,790 100,626 7.7 186,906 18,302 205,208 8.9 
			          
			 England         
			 2007-08 14,287,787 1,380,798 15,668,585 8.8 31,511,555 4,043,078 35,554,633 11.4 
			 2008-09 15,592,337 1,513,370 17,105,707 8.8 33,243,858 4,301,529 37,545,387 11.5 
			 2009-10 16,518,527 1,595,287 18,113,814 8.8 34,462,456 4,283,656 38,746,112 11.1 
			 2010-11 16,953,024 1,607,283 18,560,307 8.7 35,442,802 4,163,416 39,606,218 10.5 
			 2011-12 17,009,687 1,550,188 18,559,875 8.4 36,216,061 3,934,584 40,150,645 9.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Total attendances seen Total attendances DNA Total appointments Total appointments DNA 
			 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust     
			 2007-08 120,290 10,376 130,666 7.9 
			 2008-09 125,193 10,097 135,290 7.5 
			 2009-10 124,382 10,188 134,570 7.6 
			 2010-11 134,167 10,252 144,419 7.1 
			 2011-12 147,614 10,682 158,296 6.7 
			      
			 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust     
			 2007-08 477,526 46,944 524,470 9.0 
			 2008-09 486,904 45,923 532,827 8.6 
			 2009-10 499,977 50,597 550,574 9.2 
			 2010-11 559,446 53,326 612,772 8.7 
			 2011-12 465,058 40,516 505,574 8.0 
			      
			 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust     
			 2007-08 237,261 23,773 261,034 9.1 
			 2008-09 266,970 26,596 293,566 9.1 
			 2009-10 259,693 25,717 285,410 9.0 
			 2010-11 280,867 26,268 307,135 8.6 
			 2011-12 341,343 30,328 371,671 8.2 
			      
			 Medway NHS Foundation Trust     
			 2007-08 221,281 26,526 247,807 10.7 
			 2008-09 227,217 26,382 253,599 10.4 
			 2009-10 236,443 26,998 263,441 10.2 
			 2010-11 269,224 27,540 296,764 9.3 
			 2011-12 279,742 26,092 305,834 8.5 
			      
			 England     
			 2007-08 45,799,342 5,423,876 51,223,218 10.6 
			 2008-09 48,836,195 5,814,899 54,651,094 10.6 
			 2009-10 50,980,983 5,878,943 56,859,926 10.3 
			 2010-11 52,395,826 5,770,699 58,166,525 9.9 
			 2011-12 53,225,748 5,484,772 58,710,520 9.3

Apprentices: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of apprenticeships created in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber since 2009.

Matthew Hancock: holding answer 17 September 2012
	Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeship programme starts in Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency and the Yorkshire and the Humber region between 2008/09 and 2010/11 academic years. Data for 2010/11 is the latest year for which final data are available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts by geography, 2008/09 to 2010/11 
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 Brigg and Goole parliamentary constituency 440 460 810 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber region 32,170 36,530 55,800 
			 Notes 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Geographic breakdowns are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on the geographic boundaries as of May 2010. Source: Individualised Learner Record. 
		
	
	Information on the number of apprenticeship starts by geography is published in a supplementary table to a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 28 June 2012, available at:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_supplementary_tables/Apprenticeship_sfr_supplementary_tables/

Building Schools for the Future Programme

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) mean cost, (b) acquisition cost, (c) average refurbishment or rebuild cost and (d) average pupil capacity is of schools built under his Building Schools for the Future programme.

David Laws: The Building Schools for the Future programme is not mine or the coalition Government's; it was a programme started under the previous administration. The mean cost of all new build schools under the Building Schools for the Future programme is £18.6 million pre-election and £16.3 million post-election. The acquisition cost of schools or sites is not held centrally; local authorities will hold this information on individual projects. The average refurbishment cost of schools under the Building Schools for the Future programme is £3.9 million. The average capacity of new build schools under the Building Schools for the Future programme is 1,080 pupils.

CAFCASS

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the trial workload weighting system currently being used by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 18 September 2012
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has made no such assessment as the deployment of staff is a matter for the CAFCASS chief executive. Anthony Douglas, the chief executive, has written to the hon. Member on this issue and a copy of his letter has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 18 September 2012
	I am writing to you in order to provide an answer to the Parliamentary Question that you tabled recently.
	Since summer 2010, Cafcass and its trade unions representing front line staff (NAPO and Unison) have worked closely together to identify and address issues in relation to the workloads of our Family Court Advisers. A workload weighting tool, which was trialled in 2011, was revised in June 2012 and this revised tool is now in the process of being implemented. It incorporates a number of adjustments, intended more accurately to reflect the actual 'weight' of the various types of work that are undertaken by Cafcass practitioners. It also reflects the proportionate working expectations set out in the Cafcass Operating Framework, which was published in April 2012.
	Please see the following table which indicates the proportion of Family Court Advisers assigned to a workload weighting band in each Cafcass region.
	
		
			 Data for August 2012 
			 Team Headcount: Employed and agency FCAs % low red (less than 21.6) % low amber (21.6 to 36) % green (36.1 to 52) % high amber (52.1 to 59) % high red (more than 59) 
			 A1: Tyneside, Northumbria and Cumbria 51 5.90 17.60 45.10 17.60 13.70 
			 A2: Durham, Teeside and North Yorkshire 49 10.20 12.20 18.40 26.50 32.70 
			 A3: Greater Manchester 82 13.40 11.00 51.20 19.50 4.90 
			 A4: South Yorkshire and Humberside 56 17.90 14.30 55.40 12.50 0.00 
			 A5: West Yorkshire 69 23.20 20.30 44.90 10.10 1.40 
			 A6: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 29 10.30 20.70 62.10 3.40 3.40 
			 A7: Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Thames Valley 64 14.10 18.80 37.50 10.90 18.80 
			 A8: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset 60 11.70 15.00 61.70 6.70 5.00 
			 A9: Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire 101 16.80 14.90 52.50 11.90 4.00 
			 A10: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 42 14.30 7.10 45.20 19.00 14.30 
			 A11: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire 98 13.30 20.40 44.90 16.30 5.10 
			 A12: Birmingham and Black Country 67 20.90 7.50 22.40 13.40 35.80 
			 A13: National Business Centre, Coventry and Northampton 28 17.90 3.60 25.00 25.00 28.60 
			 A14: Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire 95 23.20 18.90 32.60 6.30 18.90 
			 A15: Greater London 157 10.20 14.60 29.30 21.70 24.20 
			 A16: Surrey and Sussex 38 2.60 13.20 39.50 26.30 18.40 
			 A17: Kent 31 6.50 19.40 16.10 12.90 45.20 
		
	
	
		
			 National 1,117 14.30 15.10 40.30 15.20 15.00 
			 Notes: 1. The numbers in the column headings in columns 3 to 7 above relate to the average number of points held by CAFCASS practitioners in each service area as at 3 September 2012. 2. Points are allocated for different types of work according to the time and work effort they take. 3. The bands were defined as follows based on the snapshot of workload scores taken on 1 June 2012: low red—15% staff; low amber—15% staff; green—40% staff; high amber—15% staff; high red—15% staff. 4. FCA = Family Court Advisor. 
		
	
	Some caution needs to be exercised over the interpretation of this data, as it is possible not all data has been added to the Cafcass Case Management System. However, we are confident the dataset is becoming progressively more accurate. As has been the case since the launch of the trial version of the workload weighting tool in March 2011, all information has been made available to our trade unions both through full access to the system and through regular reports.
	The use of the bands is intended to enable practitioners and their managers to have a sound, transparent basis on which to monitor the 'weight' of the work being undertaken and to ensure that when practitioners are carrying workloads that lie outside the 'expected' (green) band, attention is paid to the issue within supervision and through management oversight of the work of the local team as a whole.
	In addition, we have used the workload weighting system as a basis for allocating additional resources to hard-pressed teams, where many of the practitioners were in the higher bands over a sustained period.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect on local authorities' ability to provide the two year old offer of the removal of requirements for Sure Start children's centres to provide full day care in disadvantaged areas;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the effect of changes to the early intervention grant on the support local authorities give to childcare providers to increase the availability of highly-qualified foundation years staff;
	(3)  what recent representations he has received on the need for capital funding to deliver the two year old offer;
	(4)  how he plans to measure the quality of childcare providers delivering free childcare for disadvantaged two year olds;
	(5)  what training materials he has commissioned for dissemination to providers of free childcare for disadvantaged two year olds;
	(6)  what guidance he has issued to local authorities on the provision of Early Years Area special educational needs co-ordinators to support childcare providers delivering free childcare for disadvantaged two year olds.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government is providing funding, rising each year to £760 million in 2014-15, for free early education for around 260,000 two-year-olds.
	The Department has made no assessment of the number of places likely to be delivered by particular types of early years providers such as Sure Start children's centres. This will vary from area to area. The early years market is dynamic and diverse, and the Government anticipates that it will respond positively to the increase in demand and the significant new investment. Maintained, private and voluntary sector providers and childminders already deliver places to disadvantaged two-year-olds, and the new entitlement creates opportunities for them to expand.
	The local authority and school funding settlement provides for the ongoing support and development of the children's work force through the early intervention grant.(EIG) paid to local authorities. From 2013-14, local authorities will receive their EIG through the new Business Rates Retention Scheme, within which it will be separately identified.
	The Department has received many representations on how to deliver the free entitlement for two-year-olds.
	It is important that places for two-year-olds are of high quality, so that the benefits for children's development are maximised. The quality of early years provision is assessed by Ofsted.
	A range of training materials is available to providers of early education to two-year-olds should they choose to take it up. This includes support developed through the Department's voluntary and community sector grant programme and the Early Language Development programme, commissioned by the Department, to increase awareness and knowledge of early years speech, language and communication development among early years practitioners, health and education professionals, parents and carers.
	The Department has issued no guidance to local authorities specifically on the provision of early years special educational needs co-ordinators to support delivery of the free entitlement for two-year-olds. All providers are required to comply with the Early Years Foundation Stage, this includes a requirement to consider whether a child may have special educational needs and where this is the case, how they can be supported. Under statutory guidance local authorities are required to report annually on how they are supporting the child care needs of children with disabilities.

Free School Meals: Further Education

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward proposals to introduce free school meals for disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds in further education and sixth-form colleges.

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to introduce free school meals for disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds in further education and sixth-form colleges.

David Laws: holding answers 5 and 7 September 2012
	As the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb) said in the recent debate on this issue on 13 June 2012, Official Report, column 94WH, we recognise this long-standing anomaly whereby disadvantaged students in school sixth forms are entitled to free school meals while those in other settings are not. The hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb) fulfilled the commitment he made during the debate to raise the issue with his ministerial colleagues, and we are now working through all the available options.

Free Schools

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many head teachers of free schools have the National Professional Qualification for Headship.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not collect this data.

Health Education: Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provision he has put in place in maintained schools to provide awareness of diabetes.

David Laws: The Department does not provide specific information to schools in relation to diabetes or any other condition that could affect pupils. In line with the increased autonomy that is afforded to schools, we fully expect them to understand and be aware of individual children's needs. Schools should work, closely with parents/carers and have a clear procedure, set out in their health care plan, with which staff are both familiar and comfortable.

Mobile Phones

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2012, Official Report, column 997W, on electronic communication, whether he or his Department receive an itemised bill in respect of his departmental Blackberry usage in each month.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 18 September 2012
	I can confirm that neither the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), nor his Department receive an itemised bill in respect of his departmental BlackBerry usage each month.
	The Department pays for collective usage on a monthly basis via a bulk payment facility.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what Ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: There have been seven ministerial visits to the City of Nottingham since May 2010. These have been listed in the following table. No ministerial visits to Nottinghamshire have taken place during this time.
	
		
			 Minister Place of visit Reason for visit 
			 Right hon. Michael Gove, MP Nottingham Academy, Nottingham To open Nottingham Academy 
			  NCSL Learning and Conference Centre, Nottingham Two visits to speak at NCSL Teaching Schools Induction Events 
			    
			 Nick Gibb, MP National College for School Leadership, Nottingham Meeting with Chief Executive, NCSL staff & Strategic Leadership . Team 
			  Nottingham Academy, Nottingham Media visit 
			    
			 Tim Loughton, MP Several locations including Loxley House, Greenfields Childcare Centre, Strelley Cornerhouse Children's Centre and Melrose House, Nottingham Visit to Nottingham to look at early intervention policy in action. 
			    
			 Sarah Teather, MP National College for Leadership, Nottingham Speech at the DCS Aspirant Residential 
			  Trent College, Nottingham Panellist on Any Questions

Primary Education: Academies

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what definition his Department uses for a failing primary school in respect of a decision to impose academy status;
	(2)  how many schools have become academies despite opposition from the school governors.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department works with local authorities and governing bodies to agree sponsored academy solutions to turn around underperforming schools. Schools failing to comply with a warning notice issued by the local authority, or judged by Ofsted to require special measures or significant improvement, are formally eligible for intervention under the Education and Inspections Act 2006. The Academies Act 2010 allows the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) to make an Academy Order for any school that is eligible for intervention. Decisions on whether to intervene in particular schools that are eligible for intervention are made on a case by case basis. To date, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made Academy Orders in four schools in such circumstances.

Schools: Food

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what occasions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) his special advisers or officials have met John Vincent or Henry Dimbleby to discuss school food (i) in his Department and (ii) at another venue.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) asked John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby to carry out a review of school food in April 2012. Since April, he has met Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent together twice, on 3 July and 15 August 2012, and Henry Dimbleby alone once, on 9 May 2012, to discuss school food. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's special adviser also met John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby on 3 July and 15 August. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his special adviser were present at the launch of the review on 4 July with John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby at Lauriston Primary School in Hackney. Other Ministers in the Department for Education have not met John Vincent or Henry Dimbleby to discuss school food. Officials in the Department for Education who are supporting the review meet John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby on a regular basis (several times a week) on Department for Education premises and at their office, and have accompanied them on a wide range of visits.

Schools: North Yorkshire

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many inspections were undertaken by Ofsted in North Yorkshire in each of the last three years; and how many ratings were given in each category in each such year.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Letter from Sir Michael Wilshaw, dated 12 September 2012
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, to respond.
	The tables show inspection numbers and judgements for early years providers, maintained schools, learning and skills providers and social care providers.
	Ofsted inspects these different types of institutions under various frameworks of inspection. The outcomes from these inspections are not directly comparable. More information on how Ofsted inspects can be found on our website:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/how-ofsted-inspects
	Tables A-D show the number of inspections by Ofsted remit area with their corresponding grades for academic years 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 (year to date) in North Yorkshire. Equivalent data have also been provided for England for context, and the tables show the total number of inspections in each of these areas in each year.
	
		
			 Table A: How well does the setting meet the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage judgement of early years providers in North Yorkshire and England in each of the last three academic years 
			 How well does the setting meet the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage 
			  2009/10 (1) 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
			 Childminder 158 8 58 28 6 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 116 9 66 21 4 
			   
			 England  
			 Childminder 12,928 9 55 31 5 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 6,809 11 58 25 6 
			 Childcare—Domestic 39 23 44 28 5 
		
	
	
		
			 How well does the setting meet the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage 
			  2010/11 ² 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
			 Childminder 82 57 4 9 30 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 80 79 1 8 13 
			   
			 England  
			 Childminder 12,106 10 60 26 3 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 7,707 15 64 18 4 
			 Childcare—Domestic 43 21 37 26 16 
		
	
	
		
			 How well does the setting meet the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage 
			  2011/12 (Sep tember  2011  to  Mar ch 2012) ³ 
			 Local authority Total number of Inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
		
	
	
		
			 Childminder 97 10 55 29 6 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 40 8 75 18 0 
			   
			 England  
			 Childminder 7,542 10 61 26 3 
			 Childcare—Non-Domestic 4,404 16 63 18 3 
			 Childcare—Domestic 22 36 41 14 9 
			 (1) Early years registered inspections include inspections of providers active at 31 August 2010, multiple inspections of the same provider, and inspections for providers who have since resigned from the register or who Ofsted have cancelled or suspended. Excludes inspections of providers on the childcare register only, and inspections where there were no children on roll. (2) Early years registered inspections include inspections of providers active at 31 August 2011, multiple inspections of the same provider, and inspections for providers who have since resigned from the register or who Ofsted have cancelled or suspended. Excludes inspections of providers on the childcare register only, and inspections where there were no children on roll. (3) Early years registered inspections include inspections of providers active at 31 March 2012, multiple inspections of the same provider, and inspections for providers who have since resigned from the register or who Ofsted have cancelled or suspended. Excludes inspections of providers on the childcare register only, and inspections where there were no children on roll. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Overall effectiveness judgement of maintained schools in North Yorkshire and England in each of the last three academic years 
			 Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2009/10 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory 
			 North Yorkshire 89 11 46 29 
			 Nursery 0 — — — 
			 Primary 70 8 36 24 
			 Secondary 16 2 8 5 
			 Special 2 — 2 — 
			 Pupil Referral Unit 1 1 — — 
			  
			 England 6,171 782 2,631 2,281 
			 Nursery 158 94 56 4 
			 Primary 4,619 421 2,039 1,814 
			 Secondary 888 111 319 360 
			 Special 370 128 160 64 
			 Pupil Referral Unit 136 28 57 39 
		
	
	
		
			  Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2010/11 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire 69 7 34 27 1 
			 Nursery 0 — — — — 
			 Primary 55 5 29 20 1 
			 Secondary 8 — 2 6 — 
			 Special 4 1 2 1 — 
			 Pupil Referral Unit 2 1 1 — — 
			   
			 England 5,726 617 2,621 2,167 321 
			 Nursery 126 58 58 10 — 
			 Primary 4,249 323 2,003 1,693 230 
			 Secondary 894 126 338 360 70 
			 Special 328 91 157 66 14 
			 Pupil Referral Unit 129 19 65 38 7 
		
	
	
		
			  Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2011/12 (September  2011  to  Mar ch  201 2) (1) 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire 80 8 42 23 7 
			 Nursery 2 — 1 1 — 
			 Primary 62 5 32 18 7 
			 Secondary 10 2 4 4 — 
			 Special 6 1 5 — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Pupil Referral Unit 0 — — — — 
			   
			 England 4,197 510 2,027 1,341 319 
			 Nursery 103 54 46 2 1 
			 Primary 3,146 312 1,560 1,038 236 
			 Secondary 632 83 252 228 69 
			 Special 199 54 98 40 7 
			 Pupil Referral Unit 117 7 71 33 6 
			 (1) Inspections based on provisional data published on 15 June 2012 
		
	
	
		
			 Table C: Overall effectiveness judgement of learning and skills providers in North Yorkshire and England in each of the last three academic years 
			 Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2009/10 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
			 All college — — — — — 
			 Adult and community learning provider 1 — — — 1 
			 Independent learning provider 2 — — 2 — 
			 Prison — — — — — 
			   
			 England  
			 All college 92 9 43 35 5 
			 Adult and community learning provider 69 — 44 20 5 
			 Independent learning provider 184 11 75 83 15 
			 Prison 27 — 6 16 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2010/11 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
			 All college 2 — 2 — — 
			 Adult and community learning provider — — — — — 
			 Independent learning provider 2 1  1  
			 Prison 1 — 1 — — 
			   
			 England  
			 All college 83 5 33 41 4 
			 Adult and community learning provider 73 2 43 26 2 
			 Independent learning provider 155 18 73 56 8 
			 Prison 24 — 9 13 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Overall effectiveness judgement 
			  2011/12 (September 2011 to June 2012) 
			 Local authority Total number of inspections Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire  
			 All college 1 — 1 — — 
			 Adult and community learning provider 1 — — 1 — 
			 Independent learning provider — — — — — 
			 Prison — — — — — 
			   
			 England  
			 All college 69 4 22 30 13 
			 Adult and community learning provider 57 2 35 17 3 
			 Independent learning provider 94 8 45 32 9 
		
	
	
		
			 Prison 6 — 3 2 1 
			 Notes: 1. Data refer to numbers of providers. 2. Based on re-categorised provider types introduced in March 2012. 3. Data for all colleges includes: General further education/tertiary colleges, specialist further education colleges, sixth form colleges, independent specialist colleges. 4. Local authority information has been taken from Edubase for all colleges. 5. Data on local authority for adult skills providers has been collated from 2009 PIMS report and recently from the learner number data (aggregated data from the Individualised Learner Record) from The Data Service. 6. Local authority data for adult skills providers has not been consistently maintained by Ofsted since 2009. Local authority data has only been provided to Ofsted from June 2012. 7. Where local authority data for adult skills providers has not been located through the above sources, it is based on the address provided to Ofsted and may not necessarily reflect the location of the provider is usually the Head Office. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table D: Overall effectiveness judgement of social care providers in North Yorkshire and England in each of the last three academic years (1) 
			  2009/2010 academic year 
			 Provision type Total number inspected Outstanding Good Satisfactory/ Adequate Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire      
			 Adoption support agency — — — — — 
			 Boarding school 6 3 2 1 — 
			 Children's Home 12 1 6 3 2 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation — — — — — 
			 Independent Fostering Service — — — — — 
			 Local authority Adoption Agency — — — — — 
			 Local authority fostering service — — — — — 
			 Residential Special School 3 2 1 — — 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 1 1 — — — 
			 Secure children's home — — — — — 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency 1 — — 1 — 
			       
			 England      
			 Adoption Support Agency 10 1 8 1 — 
			 Boarding School(4) 171 45 91 28 7 
			 Children's Home 1,748 238 940 432 138 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation 11 4 4 3 — 
			 Independent Fostering Service 52 7 32 10 3 
			 Local Authority Adoption Agency 36 7 19 10 — 
			 Local Authority Fostering Service 30 2 12 15 1 
			 Residential Family Centre 12 2 2 8 — 
			 Residential Special School 164 77 67 18 2 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 80 11 46 16 7 
			 Secure children's home 18 1 12 4 1 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency 14 4 2 8 — 
		
	
	
		
			  2010/2011 academic year 
			 Provision type Total number inspected Outstanding Good Satisfactory/ Adequate Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire      
			 Adoption support agency — — — — — 
			 Boarding school 2 1 1 — — 
			 Children's Home 13  10 1 2 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation — — — — — 
			 Independent Fostering Service — — — — — 
			 Local authority Adoption Agency 1 1 — — — 
			 Local authority fostering service — — — — — 
			 Residential Special School 4 2 1 1 — 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 1 1 — — — 
			 Secure children's home — — — — — 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency — — — — — 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 England      
			 Adoption Support Agency 21 11 9 1 — 
			 Boarding School(4) 160 62 77 16 5 
			 Children's Home 1,866 359 1,046 403 58 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation 12 4 8 — — 
			 Independent Fostering Service 72 24 29 18 1 
			 Local Authority Adoption Agency 57 7 41 9 — 
			 Local Authority Fostering Service 41 9 27 5 — 
			 Residential Family Centre 24 5 12 6 1 
			 Residential Special School 145 85 48 12 — 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 83 22 50 10 1 
			 Secure children's home 18 3 11 4 — 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency 14 6 8 — — 
		
	
	
		
			  2011/2012 (2) 
			 Provision type Total number inspected Outstanding Good Satisfactory / Adequate Inadequate 
			 North Yorkshire      
			 Adoption support agency — — — — — 
			 Boarding school — — — — — 
			 Children's Home 9 4 4 1 — 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation 0 — — — — 
			 Independent Fostering Service 1 1 — — — 
			 Local authority Adoption Agency — — — — — 
			 Local authority fostering service — — — — — 
			 Residential Special School 3 1 2 — — 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 1 1 — — — 
			 Secure children's home — — — — — 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency — — — — — 
			       
			 England      
			 Adoption Support Agency 5 2 2 1 — 
			 Boarding School(4) 12 1 5 1 5 
			 Children's Home 1,026 308 549 149 20 
			 Further Education College with Residential Accommodation 12 9 2 — 1 
			 Independent Fostering Service 64 24 27 11 2 
			 Local Authority Adoption Agency 36 8 16 10 2 
			 Local Authority Fostering Service 33 10 21 2 — 
			 Residential Family Centre 11 5 4 2 — 
			 Residential Special School 92 52 33 6 1 
			 Residential special school (>295 days/year)(3) 57 23 29 4 1 
			 Secure children's home 8 — 7 1 — 
			 Voluntary Adoption Agency 6 3 3 — — 
			 (1) Data relate to all published inspections of children's social care providers, thus it may include more than one inspection per provider. (2) Data includes inspections between 1 September 2011 and 31 March 2012. (3) Residential special schools that care for pupils for more than 295 days per year must register as children's homes. (4) In April 2011 responsibility for the inspection of boarding schools who are members of the Independent Schools Association passed to that body and this is why there are considerably less boarding school inspections in 2011/12/.

Schools: Sports

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to promote disability sport participation in schools beyond summer 2013.

Edward Timpson: The Government is determined to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to take part in sport regardless of any impairment. Disability sport is a central part at all levels of the new School Games which are being managed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. By 1 August 2012 8,341 schools, including 359 special schools (which represents 35% of the total number of special schools) reported having participated in the School Games 2011/12.
	We are currently looking at how we can help schools to give all of their pupils the broadest possible range of opportunities to participate in competitive sport, and we are supporting the work of Sport England through our targeted Disability Grant to widen participation in competitive sport among disabled children.
	We also intend to build on the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic games to ensure that all schools give all of their pupils the broadest possible range of opportunities to enjoy physical activity and play competitive sport. To this end we recognise the valuable contribution being made by Sainsbury's, both through their support of the School Games and through their Active Kids for All programme, designed to inspire the next generation of children to participate in inclusive sports.
	We have not yet made any final decisions about funding for future years.

Special Educational Needs

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with local authorities who have reported a decrease in the proportion of children identified as having a special educational need or disability between January 2010 and January 2012 of 10 per cent or more; and what explanations he has received for such decreases;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the average change in the proportion of children identified as having a special educational need or disability in England between January 2010 and January 2012.

Edward Timpson: It is for schools and local authorities to identify children with special educational needs (SEN). Neither the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), Education Ministers nor departmental officials have had formal discussions with local authorities about reductions in the number of children being identified with SEN. Informal discussions about the identification of SEN and disability have arisen with officials when exploring other policy issues.
	The Department publishes statistical data on SEN each year:
	www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/allstatistics
	The statistics show that the percentage of pupils in England identified as having SEN fell from 21.1% in January 2010 to 19.8% in January 2012, a fall of 1.3 percentage points. At local authority level, percentage point changes ranged from +1.1 to -5.7, with all but 18 authorities showing percentage point decreases.
	Schools and local authorities are not required to collect data on disabled children.

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of deaf young people needing specialist educational support following the raising of the participation age; and how support for these additional deaf young people will be funded.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 6 September 2012
	In 2010/11, there were an estimated 2,700 young people of academic age 16/17 who were recorded either as having a statement of SEN, or being in the "School Action Plus" group, in state schools at age 15 due to having a hearing impairment. Of these, only 170 were not in education or training.
	The Government is investing £7.5 billion in education and training places for 16 to 18-year-olds to fund a place for every young person who wants one. Local authorities have a duty to support young people to participate in education or training as we raise the age of compulsory participation to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015.
	It is the duty of local authorities to support young people with high needs who need specialist provision. With effect from 2013-14 the funding for post-16 high needs provision will be integrated into the Dedicated Schools Grant to help them do this.

Travel

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much he and his private office spent on (a) first, (b) club or business and (c) economy air travel in the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 3 July 2012
	The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove) and his Private Office have spent a total of £4,500 on business class air travel and £2,350 on economy air travel in the last 12 months up to the end of May 2012. No money has been spent on first class air travel during this period.

Young People: Unemployment

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey.

David Laws: “Building Engagement, Building Futures” set out the Government's strategy to increase the proportion of young people continuing in education or training and address the longstanding challenge of young people who are NEET. This includes raising the age of compulsory participation in education or training to 18 by 2015, transforming the quality of vocational education through our new 16 to 19 study programmes and providing targeted financial support for those young people who need it most. The Department is spending a record £7.5 billion in 2012-13 on education and training so that there are sufficient opportunities for all 16 to 19-year-olds.
	The Government has recently put in place a new programme to support 16 to 17-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training and have low or no qualifications, as part of the Youth Contract. Skills Training UK has been appointed to deliver this provision across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, working closely with the relevant local authorities to identify young people who would benefit from support. Based upon currently planned performance levels, it is anticipated that the contract for the south east will be worth up to £9.2 million before the end of the contract period—31 March 2016.
	Local authorities, such as Surrey county council, have a statutory duty to support all young people to participate in education or training. They are best placed to understand and address the needs of young people who are not in education, employment or training and provide the targeted support that they need. This work can be funded from within the non-ringfenced Early Intervention Grant, and £33.5 million was allocated to Surrey in 2012-13.

Council Tax Benefits

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library copies of all the responses to his consultation on council tax benefit.

Brandon Lewis: My Department is currently considering the responses to the “Localising Support for Council Tax: Funding arrangements” consultation and to the “Localising support for council tax—Council tax base and funding for local precepting authorities” consultation. We are also taking into account representations on the draft regulations and statements of intent, and on any read across to the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2013-14, and considering representations made on these matters made in the “Localising support for council tax in England” consultation (a summary of responses are already in the Library of the House). As has been the practice of previous Administrations, we do not publish representations or consultation responses while a consultative process is ongoing.

Empty Property

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty homes have been brought back into use since May 2010.

Don Foster: Data on the number of empty homes in England is based on council tax data and can be found in live table 615 at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/stockincludingvacants/livetables/
	Council tax base data is available from October of each year. Between October 2009 and October 2010, the number of empty homes reduced by 33,000 and between October 2010 and October 2011, the number reduced by 17,000. Over the same period, the number of long-term empty homes, on which new homes bonus is paid, reduced by 16,000 between 2009 and 2010, and reduced by 22,000 between 2010 and 2011.

Green Belt

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many acres of land (a) were awarded green belt status and (b) had green belt status removed in (i) Kent and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.

Nicholas Boles: Information on how much land was awarded green belt designation or had this designation removed prior to 2007 is not centrally available.
	Since 2007, the area of land awarded green belt designation and land having its Green Belt designation removed in England is (to the nearest 10 hectares):
	
		
			  Awarded Removed 
			 2007 1,140 90 
			 2008-09 10 180 
			 2009-10 0 80 
			 2010-11 30 30 
		
	
	The large area of land awarded green belt status in 2007 is mainly due to Wansbeck, who designated 950 hectares of land as green belt, not previously having any land with green belt status.
	No land in Kent has been newly designated as green belt or had its green belt designation removed since 2007.

Housing: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 14 September 2012, Official Report, column 414W, on housing: Greater London, if he will publish the memorandum of understanding agreed between his Department and the Greater London Authority on the framework for housing matters where there is a shared interest.

Mark Prisk: A copy of the memorandum of understanding between this Department and the Greater London authority in relation to housing matters will be placed in the Library of the House.

Non-domestic Rates: Surrey

Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses qualify for small business rate relief in (a) Woking constituency and (b) Surrey.

Brandon Lewis: The number of hereditaments in receipt of small business rate relief as at 31 December 2010, the latest date for which data are available, in Surrey and Woking local authority areas are shown in the following table. Data on the number of businesses who qualify for small business rate relief are not centrally collected. The data are also not available at constituency level.
	
		
			  Number of businesses in receipt of small business rate relief as at 31 December 2010 
			 Surrey 6,903 
			 Of  which:  
			 Woking 432 
		
	
	The data are taken from the National Non-Domestic Rates 1 (NNDRl) Supplementary forms completed annually by billing authorities in England and returned to the Department of Communities and Local Government. The data are publicly available in tables in the Statistics section of the DCLG website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/nondomesticrates201112f

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what ministerial visits to (a) the city of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: The information is as follows:
	The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government visited the city of Nottingham on 28 April 2011(1) and 5 July 2012.
	The then Minister for Decentralisation and Cities (Greg Clark) visited the city of Nottingham on 30 August 2011, 9 February 2012 and 19 April 2012(1).
	The Under-Secretary of State (Baroness Hanham) visited the city of Nottingham on 23 July 2010.
	(1) Political visit, included in the interests of transparency.

Planning Permission

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to instruct the Planning Inspectorate to end its commitment to increase five year land supply targets by 20 per cent where they assess completion rates are too low;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy to assess five year land supplies available in local authority areas on the basis of planning permissions granted by the relevant authority and not completions achieved; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: Planning plays a key role in ensuring enough land is available to meet local communities housing needs. The National Planning Policy Framework, published following consultation in March 2012, sets out that councils should identify a supply of deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their local housing requirements. Sites with planning permission should be included within this supply, unless there is clear evidence that schemes will not be implemented within five years. Where there has been a record of persistent under delivery of housing, councils should include an additional 20% buffer of land (moved forward from later in the plan period) to provide a realistic prospect of achieving the planned local supply and to ensure choice and competition in the local market for land.

Procurement

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what expenditure on procurement his Department has contracted to (a) small, (b) medium-sized and (c) large businesses in each month since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 5 September 2012
	Since May 2010, DCLG's proportion of procurement spend with small and medium-sized enterprises has steadily increased. From a starting point of 12% in 2010 (based on DCLG Central spend), we have broadened our ambitions and now including our key arm’s length bodies our latest data shows that we have reached a figure of 25.9% for a rolling 12 months to August 2012 which meets the Cabinet Office aspiration for all Whitehall Departments.
	Cabinet Office publish data on small and medium-sized enterprises spend by Departments. Based on spend within this fiscal year and our performance of 23% for the first quarter, DCLG is placed third within all central Government Departments.
	The following table sets out the detailed expenditure on small, medium and large organisations since May 2010 for my Department and its arm’s length bodies where available.
	
		
			 Expenditure (nearest £ million) by business types 
			  Central d epartment Arm’s length bodies 
			  Small Medium Large Small and Medium Large 
			 Financial year  2010- 11      
			 May 2010 1.1 (1)-0.4 8.1 — — 
			 June 2010 2.5 1.8 13.2 — — 
			 July 2010 2.1 0.7 14.4 — — 
			 August 2010 1.0 0.7 10.5 — — 
			 September 2010 1.6 0.6 12.3 — — 
			 October 2010 1.7 0.4 9.2 — — 
			 November 2010 0.6 0.5 8.1 — — 
			 December 2010 2.2 (1)-0.1 11.6 — — 
			 January 2011 1.3 0.7 3.1 — — 
			 February 2011 0.5 0.4 6.8 — — 
			 March 2011 1.1 1.1 15.3 — — 
			 Total 15.7 6.9 112.7 19.2 68.4 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 Financial year 2011-12      
			 April 2011 0.5 2.2 23.6 1.0 3.8 
			 May 2011 0.3 0.7 5.6 1.5 4.1 
			 June 2011 0.9 0.3 13.5 1.5 4.5 
			 July 2011 0.3 0.4 4.2 1.8 2.7 
			 August 2011 0.1 0.7 6.2 0.9 4.2 
			 September 2011 1.2 0.8 12.5 4.0 4.6 
			 October 2011 0.2 0.2 9.1 3.8 3.8 
			 November 2011 0.5 1.0 5.6 3.8 5.5 
			 December 2011 1.1 1.0 12.9 4.1 5.1 
			 January 2012 0.19 0.5 6.5 3.9 6.6 
			 February 2012 0.4 0.3 5.5 4.0 4.2 
			 March 2012 1.4 1.4 14.7 8.1 0.5 
			 Total 7.1 9.5 119.9 38.4 49.6 
			       
			 Financial year 2012-13      
			 April 2012 0.3 0.3 4.2 3.9 8.5 
			 May 2012 0.4 0.6 12.1 3.2 5.9 
			 June 2012 1.4 0.7 8.7 3.4 4.8 
			 July 2012 0.5 0.4 6.2 3.9 4.2 
			 August 2012 0.3 0.5 9.1 5.0 5.5 
			 Total 2.9 2.5 40.3 19.4 28.9 
			 (1) The negative figures are a consequence of cancellation of invoices. 
		
	
	The DCLG Group is making a 44% real terms saving against its running costs over this spending review period by 2014-15. This equates to savings of over £570 million of taxpayers' money by 2014-15, helping tackle the deficit we have inherited from the last Administration.
	Notwithstanding these liabilities, as outlined above, the Department has an ambitious Action Plan to increase the proportion of spending going to small and medium-sized enterprises by March 2015. The plan can be found online at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/jobscontracts/procurement/smallmediumenterprises/

Regeneration: Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much Lancaster City Council has received from his Department for regeneration in the West End District of Morecambe in each financial year since 1997-98;
	(2)  what funding his Department has provided for the regeneration of homes in Morecambe's West End District since May 2010;
	(3)  what funding his Department has allocated to Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since 2010.

Mark Prisk: The vast majority of our central Government funding to local areas is allocated on the basis of local authority areas, and therefore it cannot be broken down to constituency areas. It would be of disproportionate cost to obtain data for funding allocated to this area since 1997.
	Government is taking a new approach to regeneration and is working to give communities and local partners the powers, tools and information that they need to address local priorities for regeneration and growth. Examples of these are:
	The New Homes Bonus, including for bringing empty homes back into use; local business rate retention; and changes to the Community Infrastructure Levy which ensure local areas will benefit financially from local growth and development. The constituency Morecambe and Lunesdale is part of the Lancaster district, in the County of Lancashire and they have received New Homes Bonus set out as follows:
	
		
			 Local authority NHB grant paid in year 1 (2011-12) NHB grant paid in year 2 (2012-13) Total payments in year 2 (1) 
			 Lancaster 231,427 230,381 461,807 
			 Lancashire 464,868 566,258 1,031,126 
			 (1) NHB funds reward annual increases in effective housing stock and are paid for six years. The total payment column therefore comprises the total of years 1 and 2 delivery. 
		
	
	The Homes and Communities Agency allocated funds to support Morecambe West End of £132,928 in 2010-11 and £63,949 in 2011-12 for the estate management of the properties. The Homes and Communities Agency also provides specialist expertise and intelligence to help local partners deliver their ambitions.
	The West End received £1.9 million under the Empty Homes Cluster Initiative to support the refurbishment and restoration of 114 empty homes.
	The Formula Grant for Lancaster was £15.994 million in 2010-11 and £15.124 million in 2011-12.
	We are accelerating the release of surplus public sector land and using our innovative Build Now, Pay later model wherever possible, so that housebuilders pay for the land only after homes are built.
	Through our new Community Right to reclaim land we are enabling communities to get underused public property back in use.
	Lancashire has been allocated £19.4 million from the Growing Places Fund.
	Morecambe is one of the Portas Pilots, securing £100,000 to revitalise its high street.
	As announced in the Housing and Growth statement on 6 September 2012, Official Report, columns 29-34WS, included initiatives which will help Morecambe. An additional £300 million is being made available for the provision of 15,000 additional affordable homes and to bring 5,000 additional homes back into use. The Government will issue debt guarantees worth up to £10 billion to support delivery of both new market rented housing and affordable. More details of the scheme will be published in the autumn.

Regional Development Agencies

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total value of assets was of the regional development agencies sold since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: The proceeds received for the sale of assets by each of the eight Regional Development Agencies outside London in the financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12 was £75.3 million. There have been no further sales in 2012-13.
	Assets from the former Agencies transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency in September 2011
	In the 2011-12 financial statements for the Homes and Communities Agency, the total value of disposals attributable to former Agencies assets in total was £18.3 million, the majority of which related to land and property asset disposals.
	For 2012-13, to the end of August 2012, the total value of disposals attributable to former Regional Development Agencies assets was £19.7 million.

Regional Development Agencies

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the annual cost is of current leases held formerly by regional development agencies and not re-assigned to local enterprise partnerships.

Brandon Lewis: Homes and Communities Agencies estimated income based on the transferred Regional Development Agencies leases which were in place at 31 March 2012 is £2.9 million per annum.

Riots Communities and Victims Panel

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 13 September 2012, Official Report, column 311W, on the Riots Communities and Victims Panel, when he expects to publish the Government’s response to the final report of the Riot Communities and Victims Panel.

Brandon Lewis: The panel published its final report on 28 March 2012 and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), made a written ministerial statement to Parliament on 13 July 2012, Official Report, columns 74-78WS, in response. That statement set out the measures the Government and other agencies have put in place to rebuild communities following the riots. It also set out the actions that the Government is taking forward to address some of the more entrenched issues highlighted in the panel’s report.
	In the written ministerial statement, the Government made the commitment to publish further information on the Government’s response to the panel’s report, this will be published later in the autumn.

Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what media or public speaking training Ministers in his Department have received since May 2010.

Brandon Lewis: None. I would add, as outlined in the answer of 30 March 2009, Official Report, column 966W, Ministers in the last Administration spent at least £2,115 on public speaking training.

Bus Services: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether local authorities pursuing Quality Contracts for bus services will be eligible for funding from the Better Bus Fund Area.

Norman Baker: The Government's proposals for bus subsidy reform are set out in a consultation document that was published on 13 September. Better Bus Areas will be designated via a competitive process.
	I will take a view on the precise matter she raises in the light of consultation responses.

Heathrow Airport

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of people resident within the boundaries of the 57-decibel contour at Heathrow.

Simon Burns: The latest estimate made on behalf of the Department for Transport was provided by the Environmental Research and Consultancy Department (ERCD) of the Civil Aviation Authority for 2011. This showed a total of 243,350 people were enclosed in the 57 dB LAeq 16h contour. The area covered was 108.8 km(2)

Motor Vehicles: Disability

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 519W, on motor vehicles: disability, what assessment he has made of the issues arising from the European Commission's roadworthiness proposal.

Stephen Hammond: No assessment has been made on the issue of modifications for disabled drivers. Officials will be seeking clarification on the testing of vehicle adaptations as part of the ongoing negotiations on the current Roadworthiness Proposal. The UK will continue to vigorously oppose aspects of this proposal that imply costs for UK.

Nottinghamshire

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what ministerial visits to (a) the City of Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire have taken place since May 2010.

Simon Burns: The following ministerial visits were completed during this period:
	(a) City of Nottingham
	Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, visited the City of Nottingham on the 24 March 2011, 8 January 2012 and 6 September 2012.
	(b) Nottinghamshire
	Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, visited Newark on the 13 June 2011.
	Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, visited Retford on the 8 January 2012.

Public Transport: ICT

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to utilise (a) smart cards and (b) other new technologies to improve the quality of public transport service.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport supports the roll-out of smart and integrated ticketing more widely and believe that there are huge potential benefits for passengers, local authorities and operators.
	As per our business plan commitment the Department continues to specify smart ticketing technology in all rail franchises as they are re-let. At the same time the Government has allocated £45 million to support the earlier deployment of smart ticketing equipment in a large number of stations in the south-east by 2014. This will give passengers earlier access to smart products than if we had waited for the start of new franchises to make progress.
	For buses the Department continues to encourage the roll-out of smart ticketing through the 8% uplift to the Bus Service Operators' Grant. We have, in addition, allocated £15 million to develop and provide a managed service to further stimulate smart ticketing availability.
	Beyond smart cards the Department is very keen to encourage industry to innovate in order to improve the quality of public transport services. Practical steps to encourage innovation include the Department's £17 million support for the establishment of a multi-modal Transport Systems Catapult technology and innovation centre which will provide a location and resources develop and test new ideas for all modes of transport.
	The Government is currently consulting on proposals for reforming Bus Service Operators' Grant. These proposals will see the devolution of a substantial proportion of the grant to local authorities, enabling them to improve bus patronage thereby stimulating the local economy.
	The local government measures taken forward with the grant will reflect local bus needs. It is likely that some local transport authorities will use the grant to take forward the type of measures seen in March 2012 when DFT awarded 24 local transport authorities with just under £70 million to develop Better Bus Areas. Many of the successful bids included new technologies to improve the quality of public transport service, including improved traffic management and traffic enforcement systems to help local authorities make the best of existing road infrastructure, real time information, audio-visual equipment, wi-fi on buses, and smart-phone bus apps.

Railways: Greater London

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 July 2012, Official Report, columns 113-4WS, whether investment in increased rail capacity for commuters on the most congested routes in London will include the Reading to Waterloo service route.

Simon Burns: The Government have specified sufficient peak capacity into London Waterloo to meet the forecast growth in demand up to 2019 and has provided funding for this but it is for the train operating company and Network Rail to determine how this congestion relief will be provided. They are expected to publish their proposals in January 2013.

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2012, Official Report, column 130W, on third sector, what discussions he has had with EU counterparts on amending the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to reduce or eliminate fuels from food feedstocks.

Norman Baker: Biofuels have a role to play in efforts to tackle climate change, but it is crucial that the sustainability of biofuels is assured and that they deliver true greenhouse gas savings.
	The renewable transport fuel obligation is the domestic instrument which implements the EU's biofuel requirements in the United Kingdom. Biofuel sustainability criteria are decided at an EU level, and the UK has pressed to have indirect land use change (ILUC) impacts, including those associated with the use of biofuels produced from food feedstocks, addressed urgently as part of these criteria. Department for Transport Ministers and officials have met, and continue to meet, with various stakeholders including representatives of the European Commission, UK and international non-governmental organisations to discuss the environmental and social impacts of biofuels policy.

Shipping

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of UK seafarers were employed on (a) tonnage tax or (b) non-tonnage tax ships in each year since 2001-02

Stephen Hammond: Statistical estimates for the number of UK nationals employed as seafarers are available for years from 2002 onwards. Data for 2012 are not yet available. Tonnage tax companies are required annually to inform the Department of the numbers of UK seafarers employed on their ships. The following table gives an extrapolation of these figures to estimate the percentage of UK seafarers who were employed on tonnage tax ships in each year from 2002 to 2011.
	
		
			 Number of UK seafarers serving on board tonnage tax ships as a percentage of all UK seafarers 
			  Percentage 
			 2002 21 
			 2003 19 
			 2004 14 
			 2005 19 
			 2006 17 
			 2007 23 
			 2008 23 
			 2009 22 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 18 
			 2011 20 
			 Source: UK Seafarer Statistics 2011, DFT and tonnage tax companies.

Breast Cancer: Research

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of public funding of cancer research is spent on identifying the causes of breast cancer.

David Willetts: The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support medical and clinical research. It is an independent research funding body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	In 2010/11, the MRC spent £4.4 million on research into breast cancer. Of this, £2.0 million supported research on the causes of breast cancer.
	The MRC’s overall expenditure on cancer research in 2010 was £107.9 million(1) (, 2). This includes a broad portfolio of site-specific and general underpinning cancer research, some of which will be relevant to research on breast cancer and its causes as it is often the case that research relevant to one site may also have implications for other forms of cancer.
	The Department of Health supports cancer research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In August 2011, the Government announced £800 million investment over five years in a series of NIHR biomedical research centres and units. This includes £61.5 million funding for the Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research Biomedical Research Centre, which has a research theme on breast cancer.
	The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) is currently hosting 108 studies in breast cancer, that are in set-up or recruiting patients. Expenditure by the CRN on research into particular cancer sites cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
	(2) NCRI present data on research spend in calendar years, this is to allow analysis of investments across a range of different funders. For the MRC, the data for 2010 is broadly comparable to 2010/11 financial year spend.
	(1) Source:
	The National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Research Database(2).

Business

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his Department's definition is of the small and medium-sized business sector.

Michael Fallon: There is no single definitive or universally accepted definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).
	For statistical purposes, in the National Statistics publication 'Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions' BIS define SMEs as those businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
	However, there are two further definitions used in the UK and Europe, which are as follows:
	1. EU definition of an SME
	In EU law an SME is defined as an enterprise with fewer than 250 employees and with a turnover of less than €50 million or alternatively a balance sheet of less than €43 million.
	2. UK law definition of an SME company
	In the UK, the Companies Act 2006 defines a SME for the purpose of accounting requirements.
	According to this a small company is one that meets at least two of the following conditions:
	(i) annual turnover of not more than £6.5 million
	(ii) a balance sheet total of not more than £3.26 million
	(iii) not more than 50 employees.
	A medium-sized company one that meets at least two of the following conditions:
	(i) annual turnover of not more than £25.9 million,
	(ii) a b0alance sheet total of not more than £12.9 million
	(iii) not more than 250 employees.

Business: Regulation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what steps the Government is taking to reduce the amount of red tape;
	(2)  how his Department intends to reduce red tape for start-up businesses and encourage their growth.

Michael Fallon: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has reduced red tape for business by giving over 100,000 more businesses the flexibility to decide whether or not their company accounts should be audited. The regulations also allow companies that prepare their accounts under International Financial Reporting Standards to move to UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (ACCP) and take advantage of reduced disclosures.
	We have also withdrawn the extension of the right to request time to train to businesses with fewer than 250 employees. We have achieved agreement in Brussels to exempt up to 1.4 million UK small businesses from certain EU accounting rules.
	This Government has taken specific and concrete steps to reduce the amount of red tape. We have introduced a three year moratorium on new domestic regulation for micro-businesses and start-ups from 1 April 2011 in order to support growth and establish a period of increased regulatory stability for the smallest businesses. We have also introduced the one-in, one-out rule, so that if a Department wants to introduce a new regulation which generates costs for business, they must first identify a corresponding cut in regulation elsewhere with the same value. To date we have cut the costs of domestic regulation by £850 million thanks to this rule.
	The Government is also systematically examining some 6,500 substantive regulations that it inherited, through the Red Tape Challenge process. The Government has committed to abolish or substantially reduce at least 3,000 of these regulations. We will complete the identification of the regulations to be scrapped or overhauled by December 2013. In addition we recently announced that from April 2013 hundreds of thousands of businesses will be exempted from burdensome, regular health and safety inspections.
	In January 2012, the Prime Minister launched “Business in You”, a major campaign, to inspire people to realise their business ambitions and to highlight the range of support available for start-ups and growing businesses. The campaign is a partnership between Government and private enterprise and is being supported by a wide range of partners. More information is available at
	http://businessinyou.bis.gov.uk/

India

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the UK's primary exports are to India.

Michael Fallon: The UK exported over £2.2 billion of goods to India in the first six months of 2012, as shown in the following table.
	
		
			 UK goods exports to India, first half of 2012 (by SITC code) 
			  January to June 2012 (£ million) Percentage of total 
			 Total 2,256 — 
			 667—Pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, unworked or worked 460 20 
			 681—Silver, platinum and other metals of the platinum group 316 14 
			 282—Ferrous waste and scrap; remelting ingots of iron or steel 220 10 
			 714—Engines and motors, non-ele (other than those of groups 712, 713, & 718); parts, nes, of these engines and motors 104 5 
			 288—Non-ferrous base metal waste and scrap, nes 91 4 
			 792—Aircraft & associated equipment; spacecraft (including satellites) & spacecraft launch vehicles; parts thereof 73 3 
			 874—Measuring, checking, analysing and controlling instruments and apparatus, nes 67 3 
			 781—Motor cars & other m/vehicles principally designed for transport of persons (o/t public-transport vehicles) 53 2 
			 All other commodities 872 39 
			 Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics 
		
	
	The UK also exports services to India. The UK exported over £2.6 billion of services to India in 2011 (the latest data available). Data by service type is shown in the following table. "Other business services" account for a third of all service exports, followed by Travel and Transportation both accounting for around a fifth of service exports by value.
	
		
			 UK services exports to India, 2011 
			  £ million Percentage of total 
			 Total 2,637 — 
			 Other business services 909 34 
			 Travel 559 21 
			 Transportation 524 20 
			 Financial 262 10 
			 Government 113 4 
			 Computer and information 81 3 
			 Communications 59 2 
			 Insurance 51 2 
			 Royalties and license fees 40 2 
			 Construction 22 1 
			 Personal, cultural and recreational 17 1 
			 Source: ONS Pink Book 2012

Licensing

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what permits and licences his Department and its public bodies issue to businesses.

Michael Fallon: The Department issues export and import licences to UK businesses.
	Four of the Department’s Executive agencies issue licences.
	The UK Space Agency issues licences on behalf of the Secretary of State under the Outer.
	Space Act 1986 to enable organisations established in the UK or one of its Crown.
	Dependencies or overseas territories to carry out one of the following activities:
	(a) launch or procure the launch of a space object;
	(b) operate a space object;
	(c) any activity in outer space.
	As an information trading fund, Land Registry licences the use and reuse of data it has collected and analysed, on commercial terms. Each add value service has its own separate contract in order to comply with the Information Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS) principles of transparency, fairness and challenge. Each contract requests that customers agree to the terms and conditions, sets out service descriptions and clauses addressing data protection and permitted use, as well as pricing, payment methods, operating hours and service level agreements.
	The Met Office uses a variety of licences for its products and services, depending on the type of customer and the use to which the product or service will be put.
	Ordnance Survey issue various licences which enable the use and reuse by a wide range of users of the geographic information products and services that Ordnance Survey creates. The type of licence issued depend on the proposed type of use of the information, however, a range of licences are available in order to best meet business’ needs. Ordnance Survey’s authority to issue these licences originates from the delegation of authority from the controller of OPSI to licence and manage the Crown copyright and Crown database rights subsisting in Ordnance Survey materials. These licensing activities are primarily overseen and regulated via the Information Fair Trader Scheme administered by the National Archives.

London Metropolitan University

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many overseas students at London Metropolitan University he expects to apply for help from the fund set up to support them.

David Willetts: The fund will provide up to £2 million from existing budgets to allow affected legitimate students to meet additional costs they may incur by moving to another institution. The fund went live on 1 October 2012 and at the moment it is too early to say what the overall level of demand will be. Initial data from the Higher Education Funding Council for England shows that, as of 3 October 2012, there had been 53 applications to the fund.

London Metropolitan University

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2012, Official Report, column 517W, on London Metropolitan University, how many students have made an application for support from the London Metropolitan Fund; and how many such students have been successful.

David Willetts: The fund went live on 1 October 2012. Initial data from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) shows that as of 3 October 2012 there had been 53 applications to the fund. HEFCE are aiming to process claims within 10 working days so it is too early to say how many have been successful.

New Businesses: Young People

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2012, Official Report, column 573W, on business: Government assistance, how many (a) expressions of interest have been received and (b) loans have been issued under the Start Up Loans scheme.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 18 September 2012
	By Friday 14 September, 1264 expressions of interest had been received directly by the Start-Up Loans Company. Further expressions are being received by our delivery partners, but that data is not yet held centrally.
	Applications take around three weeks to be processed, allowing applicants time to develop their business plans and benefit from hands-on support in getting from concept to finance. To date, an initial seven loans have been made, and the Start-Up Loans Company projections forecast around 2,800 loans being issued under the pilot period of the scheme.

Overseas Trade

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to assist British companies wishing to export their products.

Michael Fallon: Through UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), this Department helps UK based businesses to take advantage of export opportunities and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK.
	UKTI works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to provide practical support to exporters and inward investors through its teams which are co-located in FCO Posts in some 100 markets overseas.
	The FCO's 'Charter for Business' complements UKTI's strategy 'Britain Open for Business' and has made supporting UK businesses abroad and attracting investors to the UK a core activity for the FCO. It focuses on getting the whole of the FCO behind growth and has put prosperity at the heart of foreign policy.
	This approach emphasises the Government's joined-up approach to trade and investment and how UKTI's activities help to support British businesses overseas, in partnership with the FCO and other Government Departments.

Procurement

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of his Department and its agencies' procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized businesses in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date.

Jo Swinson: holding answer 18 September 2012
	Research Councils UK Shared Services Centre Ltd (RCUK SSC) has taken over the provision of procurement services on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) from 1 August 2012. RCUK SSC are currently undertaking a data analysis of BIS and Partner Organisations which initially will focus on who BIS are transacting with, this information will then enable us to identify where to direct our efforts to establish the number of contracts that are in place and subsequently identify what proportion of those contracts are with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
	What we can provide is the data which has been collected recently which identifies the percentage by value of business placed with SMEs. This information is collected across Government and is the current metric used to measure performance against the target of 25% of activity with SMEs.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 (a) 2010-11 25 
			 (b) 2011-12 27 
			 (c) 2012-13 (1)30 
			 (1) Quarter 1 figures only. 
		
	
	These figures are based on the data RCUK SSC have access to and cover the following organisations only:
	Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
	Companies House
	Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
	Department for Business Innovation and Skills
	Higher Education Funding Council for England
	Intellectual Property Office
	Land Registry'
	National Measurement Office
	Ordnance Survey
	Skills Funding Agency
	Student Loans Company
	The Met Office
	UK Commission for Employment and Skills"
	RCUK and the 7 Research Councils
	UK Trade and Investment Administration
	RCUK SSC does not have and cannot provide data for all other BIS partner organisations and which would need to be approached individually. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service to reply directly to the hon. Member with their information.
	Letter from Richard Judge, dated 18 September 2012
	The Secretary of State, for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, what proportion of his Department and its agencies' procurement contracts were won by small and medium-sized businesses in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date.
	Where the Insolvency Service has had direct responsibility for awarding contracts, the figures obtained show the following:
	2010 - 2011 = Not all data available
	2011 - 2012 = 50%
	2012 - 17/09/12 = 0%

Regional Growth Fund: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent by the regional growth fund in (a) the North West and (b) Warrington since its launch; how many jobs have been created as a result; and what the average cost was of each job created.

Michael Fallon: 47 bids from the North West to Rounds 1 and 2 of the regional growth fund (RGF) were successful. These bids were conditionally allocated £234 million and are expected to leverage £1.549 billion of private sector investment, and create and safeguard a total of 55,598 jobs over the period 2011-12. This corresponds to a gross cost per job of £4,209. None of the North West bids will directly create jobs in Warrington, although businesses in other Warrington may benefit from national and regional programmes.
	Beneficiaries must achieve specific investment and employment triggers in order to draw down RGF funding. To date 25 of the 47 projects/programmes have started and £37.5 million of RGF funding has been drawn down. Three projects have withdrawn.
	Monitoring reports to date indicate that 1,411 jobs have been created or safeguarded in the North West as a result of RGF funding. The results of RGF Round 3 funding bids will be announced shortly.

Students: Loans

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate the Student Loans Company has made of the number of students in receipt of loans who will be studying at commercial for-profit universities in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not distinguish between those universities that operate on a commercial for-profit basis, and those that do not.
	I have, however, previously placed a list in the Libraries of the House showing the number of students that took out student loans in respect of studies with all types of non-publicly funded providers in each year since 2006. This was in response to parliamentary question 100853 (2010/9517) answered on 19 March 2012, Official Report, column 334W.
	This shows an upward trend in the numbers of students, courses, and institutions. This in line with the Government's policy that new providers and new forms of higher education provision will help to stimulate and strengthen market competition, promote student choice, and ensure value for money.